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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806496">The Taming of Emma Swan's Magic</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstyCanadianGleek/pseuds/AngstyCanadianGleek'>AngstyCanadianGleek</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Cute Baby Neal, Dark Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Demonic Possession, Drunk Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Emma Swan Needs A Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Evil Queen | Regina Mills &amp; Prince Charming | David Nolan Friendship, F/F, Family Dynamics, Magic, Magic Cleansing, New Magic Training Type, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard Bashing, SwanQueen Fanfiction Facebook Group (Once Upon a Time), SwanQueenPairing, emotional magic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:56:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25806496</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstyCanadianGleek/pseuds/AngstyCanadianGleek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A horrific incident sends a distraught Emma to Regina's house begging for help that Regina offered months ago. </p>
<p>A chain of events of unexpected proportion begins and it soon becomes clear that magic itself is more than black and white and Emma discovers the beauty of magic while someone becomes desperate to rid her of it, regardless of the consequences to anyone involved. </p>
<p>Just how far will that person go?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>67</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Sleepless in Storybrook</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock</p>
<p>Murderous thoughts were what followed the sound of persistent knocking at nearly three o'clock in the morning.</p>
<p>Regina Mills was far more rational than she had been in the past but to be awakened this early because one of the neighbours had a drunk visitor in the middle of the night, most likely for a drunk and delusional booty call, was almost enough to make her evil queen want to rush to the surface and fillet the son of a bitch like a fish.</p>
<p>Her neighbours needed to control their lovers… or she would and they wouldn't like it when she took control. It would involve a week in the drunk tank, community service and maybe a fine high enough to cover a days pay to all of the teachers at the school.</p>
<p>Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock</p>
<p>That was when she realised it was coming from her door. Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to come knocking so loudly at her door this early in the morning?</p>
<p>Someone had a death wish. Someone wanted to die. Well, if they were unlucky and had a poor reason for being here, she was going to grant that wish, slowly and painfully. Maybe not but she would sure as hell stand there and picture it because she was not exactly what you would call a morning person and Henry referred to her upon awakening as a cranky grizzly bear.</p>
<p>She would make them regret waking her up so rudely. One way or another.</p>
<p>Knock… Knock… Knock… Knock</p>
<p>"I'm coming and I swear to god, you better have one hell of a reason for knocking on my… Emma?"</p>
<p>The second she opened the door, words failed her completely. Her anger left her body altogether as shock flooded her system.</p>
<p>Emma Swan stood outside her door, her arms were wrapped around herself as she tried to hug herself. Her entire disposition was unlike anything Regina had ever seen.</p>
<p>Her face was pale, her eyes were wide and her entire body was trembling either out of fear, or sobs that were escaping her.</p>
<p>There were streaks of tears running down her face and dried trails of tears, leaving some of the only visible skin on her face amongst the mostly dried blood that seemed to cover every inch of her body and a very strong instinct told her none of this blood was Emma's.</p>
<p>"Emma… what… Are you… Oh my god!"</p>
<p>Emma had bent over and retched, falling weakly to her knees as she gagged up absolutely nothing because there probably wasn't anything left to bring up.</p>
<p>When she finally finished, Regina bent down to her level, knowing Emma probably couldn't stand yet.</p>
<p>"Regina. You need to help me. I… I… can't control it. I need to control it… Please!"</p>
<p>"Control what, Miss Swan."</p>
<p>"My magic. Please. Help me… I can't…"</p>
<p>Once again, the blonde began to heave and retch, once again bringing nothing up and Regina wondered if giving her water might be helpful; if anything to give her something to actually bring up as dry heaving was a special kind of torture that was worse than vomiting by far because it last much longer.</p>
<p>"Come, Emma… Let's get you tidied up."</p>
<p>"I… I… "</p>
<p>"You don't need to explain."</p>
<p>"But I…"</p>
<p>"I'm not stupid. You show up here this late, covered in blood begging to learn to control your magic… I can see in your eyes what happened and I'm smart enough to know you are in no condition to talk or go anywhere but I'll be damned if I let you near any of my beds in your condition. Let's go," Regina said, helping she trembling girl up and guiding her towards the stairs. "We will talk in the morning… When Henry is at school."</p>
<p>She sat Emma on the edge of the tub.</p>
<p>"I'm going to get you some clothes. The toilet is right in front of you… If you need it," Regina said, watching as Emma numbly nodded, most likely not needing the toilet as whenever she did heave, she brought nothing up but it could still be good to know just in case.</p>
<p>She put a charm on Henry's room so any noise wouldn't get through to him because she didn't want Henry to see Emma like this. No child should ever see their parents like this. Nor did she want him waking up to the sound of his mother being sick and rushing out to check on them and causing Emma to panic.</p>
<p>She could feel Emma's powers whipping around with no control. It was uncleansed, untamed, raw and vicious with emotions. This was what happened when untrained witches who were untrained in managing their magic. It was a testimony of how untamed and raw the blonde's emotions were.</p>
<p>By the time she got to the bathroom, Emma was staring blankly at the walls, looking entirely numb and exhausted. She glanced over to Regina when she entered the bathroom but that was as far as the acknowledgement went.</p>
<p>"Come, sit on the toilet," Regina instructed and Emma complied blankly and without a second hesitation.</p>
<p>I'm probably going to have to bathe her if she's going to be this unaware. She'll probably just stand there and look at the water. I could probably run down and get coffee new.</p>
<p>"I'm going to take off your clothes and burn them as I do, so I hope you aren't strongly attached to any of these items."</p>
<p>If Emma heard her, she made no acknowledgement. She stared blankly and numbly at Regina as though she was looking at a plain, white wall.</p>
<p>"Arms up."</p>
<p>Her arms went up and the shirt came off easily and was immediately burned in the Mayor's hand in a flash of fire. Emma blinked at the sudden flex of magic in the air but otherwise didn't react.</p>
<p>The rest of the clothes were burnt and gone within seconds until Emma sat naked on Regina's toilet, not really caring that she was naked… Probably not caring about anything and this honestly scared Regina more than when she was dry heaving everywhere.</p>
<p>"Step into the tub. I'm going to rinse you down with the shower before I wash you down, okay?"</p>
<p>Emma barely acknowledged Regina's words except to comply.</p>
<p>Come on, Emma. Argue, speak, ask questions. Do SOMETHING. This numb silence is scaring me. Show me you're in there.</p>
<p>That was how the shower went. She told Emma to bend her head, lift her arms or turn a certain way and she complied robotically and without question.</p>
<p>It wasn't until Regina brought Emma into her room in her softest pair of pyjamas that she crumpled to the floor and cried. Finally, a reaction but it made Regina's throat contract at the sound of the raw, loud and agonizing sobs that escaped Emma's throat.</p>
<p>"Emma, everything is fine, okay. We're going to deal with this," Regina assured, pulling Emma up onto her bed and tucking her in; she was not leaving Emma out of her sight like this… The saviour could potentially take a dive off her roof if she did and she didn't want to explain that to Henry. She wanted to explain as little to Henry about this as possible. She was going to have to explain a lot of potentially difficult things to Henry about this evening but his mother being… hurt was not one of the things she could bear explaining to him.</p>
<p>Not that she doubted her son's ability to forgive but she could practically smell Emma's guilt, shame and self-loathing. Emma was not emotionally capable of dealing with anything and so Regina made a decision to eventually get the most rational answers from the usually so feisty blonde.</p>
<p>"Emma, I'm going to put you to sleep now. You need to rest and calm down before we can talk but I need to know right now… Is there anything that needs to be taken care of before I put you to sleep," Regina worded this very carefully so an to keep Emma calm and hopefully from panicking or getting upset.</p>
<p>Yeah, asking her where the body is… that will keep her from getting upset, Regina scolded herself but Emma shrugged.</p>
<p>"There wasn't much to…" Emma gagged and Regina summoned a garbage bin and held it under Emma's mouth, in order to catch the little bit of water she'd been able to get Emma to drink.</p>
<p>"Where?"</p>
<p>"The wharf. Behind Jiggly's," Emma whispered between gags. "By the dumpster. It was an accident. I didn't mean to… I didn't… He…"</p>
<p>"That's all I need to know. The rest can wait till tomorrow. I'm going to put you to sleep now, I'll take care of everything," Regina promised, moving the bucket to the side of the bed, knowing the spell she was going to use on Emma would keep her asleep until she woke her, she wasn't worried about it being within her reach but close enough that she could get it to her when she woke her up.</p>
<p>Once she had Emma deep into a dreamless sleep, she poufed herself to the scene and used her magic to remove any and all evidence of any potential crimes. She used a hose to rinse any blood into the ocean and by the time she was done, she had set a magic blaze across the pavement and the garbage bin to ensure nothing was left behind before she poufed herself to the Charming residence.</p>
<p>"Wake up! Now!"</p>
<p>Snow White immediately pulled her blanket over her bare chest and looked up at the voice with confusion and disbelief. Prince Charming sat up, equally confused. When their eyes landed on Regina, they opened their mouths to speak but she held her hands up, far too tired to deal with their 'what are you doing here' crap.</p>
<p>"I will be teaching your daughter magic. Your objections are now disregarded."</p>
<p>"Why should we…"</p>
<p>"Had we begun training sooner, your daughter wouldn't have killed someone with her magic tonight. Keep that in mind when you push out your objections... which I will now be ignoring. I respected your wishes before but now that it is endangering the lives of the people in my town… I'm done. She will learn magic and you, David will be covering Emma's work until she is able to return to work. That is all for now. I need to get some sleep. We will discuss this in further detail tomorrow," Regina said, preparing herself to poof out but she paused and stared at Snow. "Do something with that hickey too, I don't want to see that later today."</p>
<p>"Regina… Wha…"</p>
<p>"Later, I know as much as you do right now. She could barely get two words out without being sick when she showed up at my house."</p>
<p>"But surely she mentioned…"</p>
<p>"Snow… What part about 'she could barely get two words out' are you struggling to understand? Do you need smaller words? Okay. 'Emma no speaky. Emma to sicky to speaky'. Is that better? Now, I'm going home to bed before I lose my patience entirely. I will call you when your daughter is up for the company. Do not show up at my door until I call," Regina said, poofing away before she Snow or Charming could object.</p>
<p>Upon arriving at home, she found Henry shaking Emma frantically calling her name, tears streaming down his face as he tried desperately to wake her and of course, nothing worked.</p>
<p>"Henry," Regina sighed at him, putting a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Mom! She won't wake up! I even kissed her! Why won't she wake up?"</p>
<p>Regina steered her frantic son out of the room, giving up the idea of sleep and now planning the largest cup of coffee she could pour into her stomach without making herself sick.</p>
<p>"But, Ma… She…"</p>
<p>"Is fine… Physically. Something happened and I put her in a sort of magic hibernation so she could rest her mind and her magic so she can deal with what happened today. She won't wake up until I wake her," Regina explained to Henry, who sniffled and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve. This who situation left her drained enough that she couldn't even be bothered to tell him to use a Kleenex.</p>
<p>"What happened, mom?"</p>
<p>"I'm not entirely sure. She wasn't really in a talking mood when she showed up and she was… sick."</p>
<p>"Should we take her to the hospital."</p>
<p>"No. She's… It's her magic. She's having trouble controlling it," Regina explained, remembering the feeling of Emma's magic as it cracked around the room so viciously trying to find a threat and for some miraculous reason, not finding her to be a threat. Maybe it's because we have similar magic.</p>
<p>"Weren't you going to train her?"</p>
<p>She smiled at her son and nodded grimly.</p>
<p>"I was but your grandparents thought it would be too dangerous," Regina said, fighting back the sneer, knowing most of her frustration was from seeing Emma so upset and the rest was from lack of sleep and now Henry's own pain was just making her cranky because this situation left her entirely helpless to fix any of this.</p>
<p>"Is she going to be okay?"</p>
<p>"I think so. I'm going to help her but for now… I'm going to trust you to get ready for school on your own, I need some sleep. If your grandparents show up, tell them… Something, I'm too tired to even come up with a threat."</p>
<p>"Kay, mom. Do you want me to make something for mom to eat when she wakes up?"</p>
<p>"No, I don't think her stomach can take too much. She was pretty sick when she showed up," Regina explained.</p>
<p>"I can stay home from school if you need me to," Henry volunteered all too quickly.</p>
<p>"As generous and selfless as that is, I think we'll be fine and I don't think Emma will want you to see her like that," Regina said, thinking back to how proud and strong-willed the saviour was and how much she would despise Henry seeing her in such a state and she knew it would hurt Henry too.</p>
<p>Besides, she and Emma had to have a very serious discussion that wasn't at all acceptable to have with a child around. As mature as Henry was, Regina needed answers and Emma would shut down if he was there.</p>
<p>"Okay."</p>
<p>"I'll take care of your ma, okay?"</p>
<p>"Okay."</p>
<p>Regina went up to her bed and curled up next to Emma, who was lying still, her face relaxed as Regina's sleep helped relax her mind enough for her to sleep peacefully and it was enough to make Regina feel relaxed.</p>
<p>She knew when Emma woke up, they were going to have to deal with a lot but she needed at least a couple of hours sleep before she could delve into the details of whatever events would push Emma to KILL someone.</p>
<p>She tried to ignore the odd sense of disbelief at the thought but soon enough, she fell asleep.</p>
<p>She woke up to her phone chipping something crazy. She didn't feel fully rested but she felt that she had at least gotten enough rest to deal with this entire mess of a day.</p>
<p>She responded to the text from Snow telling her she would come and see her after supper if things went well.</p>
<p>She went to the bathroom, washed her face and prepared herself for her conversation with Emma.</p>
<p>Emma woke up slowly, her stomach ached and she felt weak and tired.</p>
<p>It was as though she had the flu only more draining.</p>
<p>She was in a bright room filled with furniture she knew she couldn't afford and for a second, she wondered where she was, how she got there and why she was even there but the memories hit her at once like a bulldozer.</p>
<p>She had… She had…</p>
<p>"Emma. You need to relax before you work yourself up again. We need to talk and I'd like you calm enough to do so."</p>
<p>Regina.</p>
<p>She stood there, in attire Emma had never seen her in before. She was in jogging pants and a T-shirt but somehow she still looked put together and wonderful, despite the bags under her eyes and the clear look of worry in her eyes.</p>
<p>"Regina?"</p>
<p>Her voice was raspy and she knew her voice was trembling as emotions passed through her.</p>
<p>"Drink the potion on the end table. It will calm you down and soothe your stomach. I'm going to get you some toast and then, we are going to need to talk about last night."</p>
<p>Regina disappeared and Emma, far too tired to try to leave, laid there and sipped on the potion. She didn't even have the energy to care if the potion could hurt her.</p>
<p>Regina returned and set some dry toast in front of Emma with a frown as she sat down next to her.</p>
<p>"How do you feel?"</p>
<p>"Sore. Tired. Numb. I feel… horrible."</p>
<p>"What happened?"</p>
<p>"He… He was talking about you and how evil you were…" Regina's brows went up in fascination and bewilderment. "He said that Henry would be better off dead than with you and if I knew what was best, I would… I would…"</p>
<p>The lights flickered and Emma's fists clenched and her powers started to swirl.</p>
<p>Regina grabbed her hands and began to draw out the excess magic as it gushed uncontrollably from the woman. She was going to have to teach her to deal with this and soon but for now, she would relieve as much of the strain as she could for her.</p>
<p>"Breath Emma. Focus on my voice. Calm down. I'll help you through this."</p>
<p>"He just… He exploded. I felt my magic as I got mad but he exploded before I could even process what I was going to do with my anger. It was like my magic…"</p>
<p>"Your magic sensed a threat and eliminated it. Your magic, until you can control it goes based on your emotions but it doesn't care about the cause of your emotions. If something makes you mad, sad, angry scared, your magic will find it threatening and it will protect you. In an untrained individual, magic is primal and instinctual. The more emotional, the more volatile."</p>
<p>Regina sighed as she watched Emma carefully.</p>
<p>"My mother often told me there was nothing more dangerous and unpredictable than an untrained, powerful and emotionally charged witch. And you, dear, are emotionally charged and impulsive. I told Snow it was a matter of time before someone was hurt but she was insistent. But I'm done playing it her way and we start training tomorrow."</p>
<p>"Tomorrow?"</p>
<p>"You are too weak today. I'll help you today but…"</p>
<p>"Henry… I can't, I need to leave. I'll…"</p>
<p>"You won't hurt him. He's your son and magic has a protection against accidental magic assault against your children. It is impossible for a parent to directly harm their child with a spell. That doesn't mead if you were to collapse the house or shatter a window he couldn't be harmed but your magic can't directly harm him."</p>
<p>Emma's eyes filled again and Regina simply continued to hold her hand, not knowing what else to do. She had had never accidentally killed someone. But she knew why it happened. Her magic had viewed the man's words as a threat not only to her but her son. Maternal instincts in witches were violent and difficult to control. She, herself had considered herself lucky to have not had those powers when Henry was small and going through his clumsy faze or being bullied in grade school.</p>
<p>It was hard enough for her to control now that he was older but Emma… Emma had no training and no knowledge of how to control even her basic magic impulses as her demonstration with the lights showed her.</p>
<p>"So, what do we do?"</p>
<p>"First, I need you to tell me who it was. Do you know?"</p>
<p>"I know."</p>
<p>"And?"</p>
<p>"It was Hook."</p>
<p>"Emma, I… I know you cared for him," Regina began but Emma shook her head.</p>
<p>"I like emotionally unattainable. No feelings. No attachment. No real attraction. It keeps me safe. The argument started because I wouldn't have sex with him again and he was wining because it had been three weeks"</p>
<p>"You're not attracted to him?"</p>
<p>"No. He… scratched an itch but that was it. Nothing more and that makes it easier when…" they leave. She didn't have to say the last part. It was unspoken. She didn't risk her heart, so she dated those she felt nothing for.</p>
<p>"Can we talk about something else, Regina. Please."</p>
<p>Regina nodded, feeling Emma's magic flaring up in her hands and she made quick work of taking the edge off and taking comfort in seeing Emma's eyes relax just a little bit. She would start teaching her to do this for herself but for now, she would just take it easy and try not to think about how lucky Hook was for his quick death at Emma's hand because if he had have said that to her about Henry… He'd find Emma's death was merely a walk in the park.</p>
<p>She wracked her brain, trying to come up with a conversation… Then she remembered the conversation she had had with Henry just the night before.</p>
<p>"Henry wants to invite you to Christmas this year. And because I think it best you stay here until we get your magic under control, he might get that wish but I want to know how you feel about that."</p>
<p>"Can my magic hurt my parents?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Emma."</p>
<p>"Than yes. What do you do for Christmas?"</p>
<p>"We keep it simple. On Christmas eve, we watch Christmas cartoons, drink hot chocolate by the fireplace and on Christmas morning, your son wakes me at an ungodly hour to open presents. We sit together for a Christmas dinner, usually turkey with all the fixings. We stuff ourselves silly, lounge around and take a walk to Granny's just to get out of the house and drink her apple cider and then we come home, watch more movies and usually fall asleep on the couch watching Charlie Brown."</p>
<p>Emma smiled. It sounded like a wonderful family Christmas and so much warmer than Emma could have ever pictured from the mayor.</p>
<p>It was altogether the Christmas she dreamed about as a kid but never got because no one wanted her for the holidays.</p>
<p>"Calm yourself. I can tell him no if you're really against it."</p>
<p>"No, I was just thinking about Christmas in the system. It was never so… Nice. Is my magic…"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"Do you want me to intrude on your Christmas?"</p>
<p>"You wouldn't be intruding. I'm inviting you," Regina informed her. "When Henry brought it up last year, I would have thought you were intruding… Which is why I didn't invite you. I want you here. I think Henry would like having both of his mothers here and I might not find your presence to be completely horrible."</p>
<p>Emma beamed, her heart swelling at her words, feeling as though this was Regina's way of telling her she wanted her to be there for Christmas.</p>
<p>"Okay but I'm going to make my Pumpkin swirl cheesecake… Deal-breaker."</p>
<p>"Is it good?"</p>
<p>"If I were to sell it, diabetics would line up at the door."</p>
<p>"Are you prepared to roll me to Granny's?"</p>
<p>"Sure."</p>
<p>"Let's talk about training for tomorrow before Henry comes home and speaking of Henry… What do you want to tell him?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Morning After Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"We will have to tell him something. More than he already knows. He's going to have questions and he's going to know something is wrong… If he hasn't already figured it out," Regina said carefully as she eyes Emma carefully.</p><p>"Why would he know something was wrong?"</p><p>"I went to speak to your parents to inform them about your lessons happening whether they objected or not, I told them what I knew and I poofed home to find Henry sobbing as he tried to wake you up. He saw the sick bucket, how pale you are and he freaked. He even tried to kiss you awake."</p><p>Something about hearing Regina use the word 'freaked' in such a way would have, on a 'normal day' made Emma gloat about her influence on the normally so properly spoken woman but she couldn't find it in herself to joke about anything.</p><p>"He did?"</p><p>Emma's smile was wide as she realised that Henry loved her enough to try and kiss her awake, which was adorable, sweet and definitely something she could see Henry doing. But she also felt beyond guilty that it was something he felt he had to do.</p><p>"True Love's kiss can be a mother and son thing but it works for curses and the spell I had you under was a healing sleep spell, not a curse. It works better between lovers, but parental love is a good last resort… I had to tell him something but it was only enough to calm him down enough to get him out the door. He's going to want answers when he comes home," Regina explained, watching as Emma nodded grimly. "I'll be honest; I only sent him because you and I need to talk about what happened and that is not a discussion I will have around our son."</p><p>"He's going to…"</p><p>Regina held her hand firmly over Emma's mouth to keep her guilt fueled worries from coming out. She wasn't going to let Emma beat herself up over something that was most likely an accident, and even if it was completely intentional, Regina knew Henry was incapable of hating. He might need time to himself to register and deal with it but he wouldn't hate her.</p><p>But Regina could tell by her reaction that whatever happened hadn't been intentional. She couldn't come up with a reasonable reason for Emma to want anyone dead enough to plan to murder anyone. Besides, she was way too open with her intentions. If it was premeditated, she'd probably waltz down the street, singing about being off to kill someone.</p><p>But she looked at Emma and finished the Sherrif's sentence for her.</p><p>"He's going to forgive you. Look at everything I've done on purpose, I think if he can find it in his heart to forgive me for my intentional and plotted actions, he will no doubt forgive you for yours."</p><p>Regina had a point. Henry knew almost everything Regina had done and he still loved her, respected her and would do anything to protect her.</p><p>But that in mind, she still couldn't help the way her stomach churned at the way her son would look at her when he found out she had killed someone. That someone had said something so vile about his very existence and his mother.</p><p>There were so many things she knew would upset him and she knew he would forgive her but she still felt scared. She felt a feeling like electricity trailing through her blood. And fire. Desperate to lash out. She felt terrified all of a sudden and the feeling in her blood got worse and worse.</p><p>"Emma, give me your hands and clear your mind. Deep breaths, Emma," Regina informed. "Until we can teach you to ground and cycle your magic, I will be helping you."</p><p>Emma nodded and took Regina's soft, warm hands in hers and enjoyed the contact as she closed her eyes and felt warmth travelling up her spine as Regina's magic helped to neutralise her own magic and left her feeling left trapped and constricted but loose and free.</p><p>"My magic was building up, wasn't it? Causing strain and tension?"</p><p>It wasn't really a question. She could feel the relief in her body and the very distinct lack of tension that she had barely noticed building without her knowledge. The feeling was similar to taking a warm bath that soothed you, body and mind.</p><p>"Magic needs to be released or cleansed or it goes out of control… Like last night. That in a way wasn't your fault. You weren't taught and you weren't taking care of it because you didn't know how," Regina said miserably. "Magic is like a bottle of Coke… If you shake it, pressure builds. If you keep shaking it without releasing any of the pressure, it eventually explodes and makes a mess. Which is why I should have ignored your mother's instructions to not train you."</p><p>"So… I'm hearing this is my mother's fault."</p><p>Regina burst into laughter at those words. She had spent so much time blaming Snow White for her problems and something about the way Emma said that was ironically hilarious. She watched as Emma gave a weak and tired smile in response but didn't laugh.</p><p>"That's right. It's Snow's fault. But I like blaming her for everything; my relationships, my bills, my flat tires, when it rains and you won't believe how much I curse her when my useless period starts, I don't even know why I still have that… So, yes. Let's blame Snow."</p><p>"Regina…" Emma started, still grinning weakly but giving her a half-hearted look to try and correct her.</p><p>"I know. I just, she has a role in this but I could have gone around her because she doesn't have any legal authority over you and I don't need her permission or consent to teach you anything. We're both adults."</p><p>Ultimately there was nothing to stop Regina from trying to teach Emma magic. She had chosen not to out of respect for Snow White's wishes and now, it would go down as one of her regrets. Her choice had cost a life that was not intended to be taken and it could have been anyone to meet Emma's wrath while her magic was built up, strained and building up painful amounts of pressure.</p><p>It could have been the barista for spilling coffee, the person to cut her off in traffic or a person to take her seat on the bus. Or, god forbid, her brother acted out and caused her to become frustrated. Magic in those circumstances was so scarily unpredictable that she should have just started lessons. But Snow played the guilt card.</p><p>Snow put her foot down and said Emma had no reason to learn. Snow made threats to take Henry away. All of this, Emma was unaware of. Regina had agreed to monitor the situation. She let Emma hang out with Henry at the house and kept an eye out. She felt her magic building slowly over time but what happened today had been abrupt and it was the very reason she should have told Snow White to shove it because there were a million ways what happened could have been a million times worse.</p><p>It could have been Snow White, Neal, Charming, someone at work or the diner, or worse, it could have been Regina herself leaving Emma with no one to turn to for training… or even worse, leaving her desperate enough to go to Cora for magical training.</p><p>"Why do I feel so horrible?"</p><p>"Because my dear, you are a good person and witnessing death is traumatic… Causing it is something else entirely."</p><p>"Will I ever feel better?"</p><p>Regina sighed, knowing this was something that never went away entirely. You can shut it away, pretend it's not there but it is. It will always be there, waiting for a vulnerable moment to come out and make its presence known.</p><p>"Yes. Eventually, you'll go a few days without thinking about it and eventually, you'll be able to think about it without feeling the guilt and shame. I can tell you all I want that it wasn't your fault but… it won't help much. You'll still feel guilty."</p><p>Emma sat there quietly for a little while before her eyes began to droop softly. Regina noticed this as well and pushed Emma back against the pillows, meeting no resistance as Emma was too tired, physically and emotionally, to fight her.</p><p>"Sleep. I'll wake you when Henry is home. We'll try some soup for supper tonight, okay?"</p><p>Her words weren't heard however because Emma was already snoring, like one of those dolls that closed its eyes upon being lied down, Emma was asleep from the simple gesture. It warmed Regina's heart to see her so content for the first time since she had shown up but it troubled her the way her eyes still tightly closed and her expression was pinched with stress.</p><p>Regina had made a small and quick pot of soup when the first scream met her ears. It was loud, raw and full of so much pain and emotion. Agonizing emotion.</p><p>By the time the second scream left Emma's lips, she had already poofed herself to the blonde's side. She spent a second lowkey cursing Emma for causing her to refer to it as 'poofing' but her concern for the blonde, fear for her safety and concern by the amount of magic currently lashing out was almost enough to make her forget to turn the stove off.</p><p>Tears streaked Emma's face as she screamed and cried for forgiveness. She looked so helpless, lost and terrified. It broke the Mayor's heart to see the saviour in such a state.</p><p>"Emma… Wake up. It's just a dream."</p><p>"'S'not a dream. I really. I… I… Regina?"</p><p>Emma came to slowly as her dream and reality slowly separated itself from her mind, leaving her struggling to piece together what was happening after being awakened so abruptly but she opened her eyes and faced the Mayor with sleep and tear-filled eyes.</p><p>"Am I a monster?"</p><p>"You're the furthest thing from a monster. I don't think there is anyone who is less of a monster than you," Regina said with a frown as she sat down next to Emma, seeing tears building but being pushed back. She could hear Emma gulping in her effort to keep from crying but that was what caused stress, strain and magic to coop up.</p><p>Regina scooted closer and pulled Emma's head onto her shoulder and as anticipated, this broke the damn entirely and Emma broke down into sobs. Loud cries that echoed the room. Both women caught up in their own thoughts… Emma in her tears and Regina thinking about how to proceed next while trying to offer some comfort while focusing on drawing as much excess magic as she could because it wouldn't be long before things started exploding…</p><p>Neither noticed Henry glancing into the room with worry before he backed away, deciding to give his mother's privacy to deal with their crying; he wanted to leave before the nervous lump in his throat turned to uncontrollable sobs at seeing his mothers cry. To see them in so much pain. It made him so angry at whatever caused it.</p><p>What could make Emma cry like that? More importantly, what was so bad that 'the evil queen' would allow Emma to sob all over her?</p><p>Whatever happened, he wanted to fix it! He wanted to make his mothers happy again. He wanted for his ma to wake up when he tried to wake her. He didn't want her to cry like that anymore.</p><p>He'd ask about it later. When things weren't so emotional. Especially since he had never seen his mother cry… or hold someone besides him when they cried. It was then that he knew something was really, really wrong.</p><p>But first, he needed to calm down. He was too mad, confused and close to crying to ask any questions or hear answers.</p><p>Emma walked downstairs with Regina; her eyes were heavy from crying and her throat ached but she knew she had to try and eat something remotely filling.</p><p>They arrived downstairs to find Henry sitting at the island, reading his history textbook but it was clear there was something on his mind. When he saw Emma, he immediately closed the book and rushed over to hug her. Hard enough that if Regina hadn't grabbed her arm, she would have fallen to the ground because she was still on the weak side.</p><p>"I was so scared this morning."</p><p>He was always very open about his feelings. He never held back and that was one thing Emma loved about him. He told people how he felt, whether or not they wanted to hear it or not.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Henry," Regina said before Emma could apologise. "I didn't expect for you to wake up on your own… you never do any other day."</p><p>Usually, Henry had to be dragged out of bed and it took an hour just to keep him up long enough to start the day. It seemed pretty safe to bet that he was going to stay in bed until she could bring Emma out of her sleep.</p><p>"It's okay? I had to use the bathroom and my toilet overflowed, I went to tell you but when I saw ma in your bed so pale and clammy… Are you feeling better, now, ma?"</p><p>Regina and Emma shared a look before they made a decision.</p><p>"Henry, I need to talk to you. Emma, eat some soup, take your time, okay?"</p><p>Regina knew this was a talk Emma would have difficulty with and so she decided to take Henry into another room to explain it to him without Emma feeling guilty or ashamed again… Or more guilty and ashamed</p><p>"What are you going to tell him?"</p><p>"The entire truth. He's not stupid. He knows something is really wrong and he deserves to know. I'll send him in to speak with you when I'm done," Regina said, glancing at Henry who was eyeing Emma with wide eyes. This told him something was very wrong. There were so many emotions in Emma's eyes and he just wanted to hold her and make it all better but a gut feeling told him it was more complex than that.</p><p>"Ma? Mom?"</p><p>"Living room."</p><p>He followed. He needed to know what was going on. Both women looked so strained but his mom looked more able to talk, so he followed her into the living room… His Ma looked more likely to cry than talk.</p><p>"I mentioned your mothers magic being out of control but here's what you don't know… Someone was hurt. They insulted you and made some very powerful insinuations and your mother's pent up magic burst out in defence. She doesn't know how to control it so when it happened, she couldn't stop it… It wasn't her fault," Regina said, eyeing Henry carefully.</p><p>"What do you mean when you say hurt? Hurt as in… give them a bandaid and time to rest or… oh. Oh. Who was it?"</p><p>"Killian."</p><p>Henry's eyes went wide as he took in that information but he nodded and considered it for a second.</p><p>"Oh… Is ma okay?"</p><p>"No, son, she's not. She's upset, she's guilty, she's angry with herself and she's worried you're going to love her less."</p><p>Henry looked shocked and violently shook his head at the idea of loving her less.</p><p>"What did Killian say?"</p><p>This time it was Regina's turn to firmly shake her head.</p><p>"I'm not going to tell you. It was aimed more towards me than anything but her magic viewed it as a threat to your safety and her emotions triggered her powers and the result was… bad. Really bad."</p><p>"Is she going to go to jail?"</p><p>"No. I'll see that she doesn't. I already took care of the scene… He's a pirate… As horrible as it is to say… no one will look for him, no one likely saw… Everything should be fine and in time, your mother will heal. She just needs support. She'll have you, me, the Charmings… She's not alone."</p><p>"I want to go see her now."</p><p>"Ok."</p><p>Emma had barely rinsed out her bowl and spoon when she felt a tight arm wrap around her.</p><p>"Henry?"</p><p>"I love you, Ma. Mom's going to teach you magic and everything will be fine."</p><p>Emma's eyes filled as she pulled her son into a hug and Henry just held her back.</p><p>After a little bit, she felt a hand begin to work its way into hers and the familiar feeling of her magic being released.</p><p>"I didn't want to interrupt but the lights are flickering and I could feel your magic from the hallway. I wanted to come and calm you down," Regina said, looking relieved that Emma wasn't upset or started. It was a big risk to touch someone with volatile magic without their permission or knowledge.</p><p>"I'm so sorry for being so weak today."</p><p>"You're not weak, Ma. You're hurting. It's okay to hurt and it's okay to ask for help. You always tell me that. Now it's your turn to let us help you."</p><p>"Listen to your son, Miss Swan. He knows what he's saying," Regina said with a chuckle. "Henry, I'm going to set Emma up in the guest room and I want you in your room focusing on homework after you eat, okay?"</p><p>"'Kay mom. Can I help with anything?"</p><p>"No, I'm going to your grandparents' house to update them and get stuff for Emma. With baby Neal there, she should distance herself until she gets her magic and emotions more stabilised."</p><p>"Oh, can I come. I want to see Nealy and Grandpa," Henry said, loving spending guy time with Grandpa and Neal… The one thing Regina could not offer was something Charming provided and that was guy time.</p><p>Sure, she could, and did take him camping and trudging through the woods along with Emma who showed him fishing and swimming, she was not a guy and neither was Emma. Charming, however, could help Henry become a man and as much as she would never say it aloud, he was the kind of man she wanted her son to become.</p><p>Honourable, patient but not hyper-masculine. He was a wonderful father who put his kids first and taught them right from wrong.</p><p>She knew Snow had a problem with her but her husband had no such problem. Both Charmings, however, adored Henry.</p><p>Snow had been aloof lately. Distant. Quiet. Especially when Henry was around. She was always trying to get him to stay over. Keeping him late with activities and then saying 'it's too late to let you travel on your own.'</p><p>Maybe she was feeling particularly maternal. Maybe it was baby fever or something. They had Neal and maybe her maternal instincts were hitting her weird. Either way, the woman was behaving weird.</p><p>"Why don't you stay here with your ma, okay? Keep her company if she wakes up, okay?"</p><p>Henry raised a brow before he nodded in agreement.</p><p>"I'll protect her," he said, determination in his eyes and Regina couldn't help but laugh at her son's protective nature.</p><p>"Don't eat too much junk food and I want your math done before I get home. If I look in the morning and you're not done, there will be no camping trip this weekend."</p><p>The groan she received told her he had heard her instructions and wasn't pleased but he wasn't going to argue.</p><p>A quick pop into the guest room told her Emma was still awake and she was looking up at the ceiling blankly, probably lost in thought.</p><p>Regina quickly took her hand and took off the edge of her magic which was probably adding to her mental strain.</p><p>"Are you going to be okay tonight?"</p><p>"Yeah, totally," Emma said automatically but her confidence in this did not meet her eyes. She looked about as unconvinced as Regina felt. "Thank you for letting me stay here until…"</p><p>"It's my job as mayor to make sure the citizens are safe and Henry is glad you're here… That makes me willing to help."</p><p>"Thank you for letting me borrow your clothes."</p><p>"I could hardly let you run around in bloody clothes… or naked. Henry might be cool with a lot but I'm sure even he'd draw a line there."</p><p>"Did you just say cool?"</p><p>"And if you tell anyone, I'll make you cool… North Pole cool. Anyway, I'm going to see your parents, I'm going to get you some clothes while I'm there. I'll be back soon, okay?"</p><p>"I can take care of myself," Emma said, looking down as she spoke, almost as though to keep Regina from seeing whatever emotion had just passed her eyes.</p><p>"Get some rest, Emma," Regina said. "We start training tomorrow."</p><p>Regina texted the Charmings before she applied enough makeup to cover up the bags under her eyes and poofed directly into the loft.</p><p>"Regina."</p><p>Snow's words were curt and tense but before Regina could speak on it, David walked into the room with Neal on his hip.</p><p>"Look, Neal, it's Re-gina! Henry's mommy," David said to the toddler who was grinning widely. "Say his Re-gina."</p><p>"Gia! Gia! Gia!"</p><p>"No… Re-gina."</p><p>"Gia! Gia!" Neal clapped, sounding very proud with himself for getting as much of her name as she did. She honestly found the toddler's attempt at her name to be very sweet and innocent. She missed having a toddler around and Henry was well beyond saying her name wrong.</p><p>"David, I think you should put him to bed."</p><p>"He likes Regina. She just got here," David said, oblivious to the fact that his wife clearly didn't want her son near the 'evil witch'. Regina pretended not to notice so Neal wouldn't pick up any tension towards his mother from her.</p><p>"And I said he should go to bed now. Do you want a repeat of last night?"</p><p>For a second, David stared at his wife as her eyes flashed with emotion but he shrugged and frowned.</p><p>"Erm… Okay, come on Nealy. We'll see Re-gina when we pick up Henry for camping this weekend… Can you say camping?"</p><p>When the two Charming men disappeared, Snow's eyes lost a lot of their softness as she looked at Regina closely.</p><p>"Where's Emma?"</p><p>"My place. Resting."</p><p>"Still?"</p><p>"Yes, still. She's in a fragile emotional state and her magic is reacting accordingly. It's not safe for her to be here."</p><p>Snow looked up almost defiantly, as though she as about to question whether or not Emma was safe with Regina but she decided against it and settled for rubbing her temples.</p><p>After a few moments, she looked up to Regina with an odd sort of look in her eyes.</p><p>"You couldn't just bind her powers?"</p><p>Regina was barely able to stop her jaw from dropping at the crazy suggestion. Magic was… No. It just wasn't done. Ever. Of course, Snow wouldn't know that because she wasn't raised around magic. At least not the way Regina had been.</p><p>"Of course not. That's not a possibility. Magic is tied so intricately to your soul that to interfere with it could cause her to go into a permanent vegetative state. They could also return if you hypothetically found a way to do it and more powerful and volatile."</p><p>"They won't," Snow promised, clearly defensive and upset over something to do with Emma's powers and it made Regina feel uncomfortable. "She's a good girl, it won't return."</p><p>Regina bit her tongue and refrained from correcting Snow calling Emma a girl when she was a grown woman and also defending the insinuation that magic was all of a sudden going to make Emma anything other than good. Many people had magic who were good… Even Cora said your abilities don't define your morality, merely what you do with them.</p><p>There were good people with magic the very same way there were really bad people who didn't have it. There was no black and white and as much as Regina knew her mother was wrong with so many other things, this was one of the occasions the woman was right.</p><p>Magic was very much like a gun or a knife. Neither were good or bad on their own, regardless of how it was made. What defined how good or bad something was, came down to how you used it.</p><p>Magic can be used to heal or wound. Knives can be used to cook or kill. No, the goodness or badness of the magic came down to the person who wielded it and what they chose to do with it.</p><p>But Regina, being too damn tired to get into an ethical discussion with the hard-headed woman who would disregard every word, decided to take a simpler approach with what she said next and simply argued Snow's point that Emma's magic 'could not return'</p><p>"If it's meant to be, they will," Regina said, defensively but trying not to poke the bear too hard.</p><p>There were only three instances where someone had their magic successfully removed while keeping their mental faculties and the magic returned within months and it returned violently and lashed out in terrifying and horrific ways over stupid things. People died when the holder of the magic heard claps of thunder and lightning would shoot from their hands at the sounds of a stick breaking.</p><p>But the most likely outcome was the vegetative state because it was near impossible to remove a person's magic without removing their entire souls and binding usually resulted in the soul being bound which was a fate worse than death much like removing the soul.</p><p>Both were immoral and even Cora had been sick when Regina mentioned having her own powers bound or stripped once… That had been enough to scare her because her mother never reacted so… uncontrollably to anything before.</p><p>"Did you find out what happened?"</p><p>Regina blinked and felt herself nod, glad for the change of subject. Bringing it back to Emma. The woman had yet to ask how her daughter was actually doing.</p><p>"Hook. He insinuated that Henry would be better off dead than with me," Regina said, barely able to conceal her own anger as she repeated those words about her son. Snow's jaw dropped as her eyes shot over to a picture of Henry on the wall.</p><p>It was his most recent school photo and there was a picture next to it with Emma and Henry smiling happily at the camera, a very obvious lake in the background. It had been from the day a few months ago when it felt too hot to breathe indoors, so Regina had taken them to her cabin by the lake and let them swim while she spent the afternoon cooking salads.</p><p>It was nice to hear Emma and Henry laughing while she worked without worrying about Henry being hurt in the water because she knew Emma would keep him safe.</p><p>She had taken the photo after they had come out of the water, grinning victoriously because Emma had just taught Henry how to walk on his hands underwater. It had been too sweet a moment for her to not photograph and the way Emma's magic swirled around the property in the bliss of the moment was… It made her feel so at ease and relaxed that she couldn't help but want to join in and capture the moment.</p><p>Happy magic had a way of swirling around and just bringing everything to life and adding brightness and energy to everything that surrounded it. It was like Cleansing only… different. Nothing benefitted long term but it just added a quality to the environment that was beautiful and Emma's magic was just so pure, raw and expressive that this seemed to be multiplied.</p><p>It was the happiest Regina had ever seemed Emma. They had spent the night lounging by the fire, eating fire-roasted food and just enjoying the sounds of nature. They ended up sleeping outside under the stars because Emma said she had never done it before… for fun and it seemed like a wonderful moment to do so.</p><p>"Henry is a good boy," Snow said, bringing Regina away from such a happy memory, clearly thinking along the lines of 'unlike you'. Regina resisted the urge to call Snow out on her little dig but only just barely. She hardly had the patience to deal with this today.</p><p>"He said that if Emma cared at all she would… get rid of him. She didn't take kindly and her untrained magic lashed out at the target of her emotions. She doesn't know how to cleanse and clear her magic, so it's extremely volatile and dangerous."</p><p>"So you're saying this is my fault?"</p><p>She almost rolled her eyes at Snow's words. She wanted to. The muscles in her eyes begged her to. But she didn't.</p><p>"I didn't say that."</p><p>"Of course not."</p><p>"How's Emma?"</p><p>David's question broke up the intense staring contest between Regina and Snow and the Mayor almost felt like hugging him because she could feel her own magic stirring. She bit it down but it was getting hard. She was so tired and this conversation with snow was trying her patience. Mind you, her magic lashing out wouldn't be near as bad as Emma's untamed and unruly magic but it would probably smash a window.</p><p>Snow looked embarrassed that she hadn't thought to ask.</p><p>"Not great. Her emotions and magic are all over the place. She was sick last night and we barely managed to get her to eat at all today. We will start training tomorrow, as long as she has the energy to do so. I've been helping to control the excess flow of magic but eventually, she will need to learn to do that for herself."</p><p>It's the best way and the best time to begin. If she learnt to do it now, during a difficult emotional time, it would make it easier for her to handle it when she found herself in a similar emotional state. She needed to learn to control her powers before Regina could in good conscious allow her to return to work or be around Neal who she had grown somewhat attached to despite everything from the past and Henry adored the toddler.</p><p>It was really heartwarming to watch her son engage with the child and the way it taught him responsibility. He learned to guide the child, he learnt that children imitate everything and to be careful with what you do around them and he learnt just how quickly toddlers get into trouble unblinkingly quick and without a moment's hesitation.</p><p>She was going to make sure the Charmings were all okay because of Henry and Emma. If Emma was hurt, Henry would be hurt because his mother was hurt.</p><p>And she didn't want Emma to be hurt either. It was a huge chain of events and she didn't want any of them to be hurt and after seeing Emma the way she had last night, she never wanted her to be hurt again.</p><p>Snow's face went… distant and she stood up and started walking to the stairs.</p><p>"Honey, I need to use the bathroom, can you take Regina upstairs to pack a bag for Emma?"</p><p>With that, Snow was gone and David was left standing awkwardly in the room. He looked at Regina nervously as though he didn't know what to say or do now and it was almost hilarious the way he squirmed the way a father does when asked about some type of feminine need for his daughter.</p><p>"I hope you know what she needs. I don't really know what a young woman needs from day to day?"</p><p>David held the back of his neck and nervously shifted from foot to foot as though he was unsure what to do with himself or what to even say to show Regina Emma's 'girly things'. If she was feeling crueller, she'd ask him to locate Emma's birth control, her tampons and whatever she could think of to make the man squirm. To be honest, if she wasn't ready to curl up and sleep for a month, she would have.</p><p>She could already picture his eyes bugging out in terror at the request. But she wanted to get home to Henry and Emma.</p><p>Was Emma on birth control? Did she need those kinds of pills?</p><p>She also wanted to go home and get some sleep. She was going to need rest to be able to show Emma how to channel her magic.</p><p>"Don't worry, Charming. I have every feminine product she could ever need but I just want to get her clothes, any medications she might be on and anything you can think of that she keeps around for comfort."</p><p>"She has her blanket but that's about it. Her clothes are in her room. I'll show you."</p><p>"What's up with Snow?"</p><p>"I don't know. I wish I knew but she's been… strange lately. I think it's her postnatal hormones. The doctor did say those could cause mood swings and behavioural shifts. She might have postnatal depression," David explained frowning. "Take care of Emma. She's… she's my baby girl."</p><p>Regina smiled at the man; at least one of the Charming adults was worried about Emma's wellbeing, unlike Snow who seemed more concerned with ridding Emma of her powers and shoving it all to the wayside.</p><p>"I will. I'll have her call you tomorrow."</p><p>"Yes please."</p><p>Regina collected a few weeks worth of clothes for Emma and told Charming that she would do everything she could to teach Emma everything she needed to know so she could safely return home.</p><p>"I won't return her home until I'm certain it's safe… For your son. He's the only reason I care."</p><p>"You care about me."</p><p>"Shut up, Charming."</p><p>"We're friends."</p><p>"I don't do friends."</p><p>"Does this make us BFFs?"</p><p>"Good night, Charming."</p><p>"Bye, bestie," Charming mocked again with a vicious smirk on his face that almost made Regina proud. She was actually highly amused that the man would attempt to joke around with her. So amused that she simply settled for telling him where to stick it… But it didn't hold much bite at all.</p><p>Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, I'm going for Regina and David to have a friendship, I'm toying with giving them an almost bro-like friendship because I think it would be hilarious with her personality to put her into that kind of friendship with someone, and it would be nice for her to learn to let loose and I'm just picturing Emma's reaction to this friendship…</p><p>Next chapter will begin Emma's magical training and the way magic works in this story is going to be closely explained and I will explain cleansing. I have set up magic the way I did for a very specific reason and it is all based around a creature I created when I was younger. I will explain it all in-depth with time.</p><p>But to give a quick summary, I am tying magic in with the soul, emotions and I'm connecting it all to nature in a very intricate and fragile way. It will be explained throughout the story but it will all fit into the story. I will be doing my best the emphasise the beauty of magic and how magic, life and nature are all tied together in a balance.</p><p>I'll also be explaining the different types of magic and their various levels of divergence from nature.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Nature of Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Henry is adorable as ever.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Regina fell into bed as soon as she arrived home, replaying her conversation with David and Snow.</p><p>She couldn't help but feel something was off and it was giving her a really bad feeling. A feeling that something was really wrong.</p><p>She was just too tired to worry about it any longer. With the amount of sleep she had gotten in the past 24 hours, it was a miracle she was capable of functioning half as well as she was.</p><p>She had barely closed her eyes when the sound of loud and terrifying sobs travelled into her room, bringing her out of what would have been a nice and deep sleep before it could even begin.</p><p>She threw her blankets off and quickly went into Emma's room to calm her down, hopefully before she woke Henry.</p><p>Henry was nervous enough without hearing his mother crying and whimpering in her sleep. She was going to have to take him aside to talk to him about how he was handling all of this later tomorrow.</p><p>Emma laid under the blankets, tossing, turning and sobbing. She was speaking but her words were all muffled by her pillow. Occasionally she could hear words like 'accident' and 'didn't mean to'.</p><p>"Emma?"</p><p>She sat down next to the sobbing woman and rubbed her back to ease her out of sleep without scaring her and triggering a magical reaction that would throw her through the window or worse because there was already a lot of magical tension in the air and the last thing she had to do was trigger any defensive reactions from the volatile blonde, she wasn't Emma's child, so she didn't have the same protections Henry did from her.</p><p>She could defend herself if she had to and she could block any attack as emotional and confined magic was really easy to detect before it could lash out but she didn't want Emma to go through the discomfort of the build-up again.</p><p>After a while of rubbing Emma's back, Emma turned around and she found herself looking into Emma's eyes which were red and squinting with exhaustion and tears.</p><p>"R'gina?"</p><p>"You sound like Neal."</p><p>"Neal? Wha…"</p><p>"Nevermind. Are you okay?"</p><p>Emma glanced up sleepily before she shook her head, obviously too tired to lie or pretend she was remotely okay.</p><p>"Okay, scootch over."</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"You shouldn't be alone and I'm too tired to go back to my room. We need rest, so scootch over and we're going to go to sleep," Regina said, laying under the covers before she took hold of Emma's hand and began drawing the negative magic away from her. She could cleanse tomorrow, today was about comforting Emma in the quickest way she could think of.</p><p>As usual, Emma's eyes drooped with relief and Regina felt pride at being able to offer so much relief, as surprising as it was, it wasn't often for someone to be able to draw magic from just anyone. In fact, it was a little confusing that she was able to make as much of a difference as she could. She wasn't going to question it, if it helped, she was going to go with it.</p><p>No words were spoken as Emma drifted to sleep and Regina couldn't even bring herself to object when she felt Emma snuggle into her and nuzzle into her shoulder blade, clearly in need of the contact. In fact, she began running her fingers through the blonde's hair, causing her to practically pur.</p><p>It filled her heart with warmth and joy to hold her like this; as uncharacteristic as it was for Emma to go for the contact she craved, it was also odd for Regina to want to give it. But there they were. Snuggling. Both benefiting from the contact.</p><p>And Regina wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Perhaps she would take away all of Emma's pain but besides that, holding Emma in her arms was better than any feeling she had ever felt before and she didn't even care to figure out why.</p><p>Gold's shop wasn't open yet. The sun hadn't even risen yet. He hadn't had his coffee and he was barely awake to have the patience to deal with the person standing in his shop, let alone the look on her face that told him his day was about to become unnecessarily dramatic.</p><p>Yet, he'd been drawn out of slumber by loud and obnoxious banging at his door, making him realise how lucky the person on the other side was that he had changed because if he hadn't… well, there wouldn't have been someone on the other side of the door anymore.</p><p>She looked desperate and it was that moment that he knew this was going to be some type of crap he wasn't going to want to deal with. Almost mad with desperation.</p><p>Why can't people grasp that I'm trying to cut out the crap from my life? I do not want to deal with whatever is causing the mad glisten in those eyes. Oh, if the neighbours could see her now, he thought to himself as he looked at the woman before him whose face was twisted with any emotions that drove for horrible choices and now churned his stomach.</p><p>Snow white stood in his shop, eyeing him with a look between desperation and determination.</p><p>He stared at the woman and pinched the bridge of his nose, praying she would change her mind and walk away. He wasn't a religious person but with his current mood, if it worked, he woud pray to every recorded diaty he could find information on just to thank them.</p><p>She looked like she had been up the entire night and she looked the type of desperate that made even him squirm uncomfortably because it was the kind of desperation that could lead to the unthinkable and he didn't feel like dealing with the unthinkable right now.</p><p>Right now, he just wanted to be back in his bed.</p><p>Was it too much to ask for a break from all of the townwide drama and mayham?</p><p>"Gold. I need a favour."</p><p>Apparently not.</p><p>"And this favour can't wait until I'm awake, dearie? We wouldn't want a mistake."</p><p>And with any luck you'll change your mind between now and then because your family's drama is always filled with crap and I don't feel like dealing with it, he though to himself, keeping his expression neutral as always. Maybe he could something good for this… His car did just die...</p><p>"You need to get rid of Emma's magic."</p><p>At those words, he looked up from his coffee and just about kept himself from choking out of the shock of the request made so casually as though it wasn't the most horrendous thing you could do to another person. No, that was a type of magic he would never mess with… ever. There was dark magic and there was… that.</p><p>Never in his wildest dreams would he do that to Emma, or anyone, especially considering the cost he would have. Never. The idea was so repulsive that he actually considered using his magic to blast her through the door to his shop and magically banning Snow from the property.</p><p>"Well, send her by and I'll…"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"I'm sorry, you want me to remove your daughter's magic. That's…"</p><p>"Going to cost me, I know but I'm willing to pay."</p><p>"I was going to say impossible. You cannot remove someone's magic safely. It's the one thing magic won't allow, regardless of the price willing to be paid. I don't think you understand the risks of what you're asking. Magic is tied to the soul… Removing or binding her magic could remove or bind her soul, it's a fate worse than death."</p><p>"Are you saying you won't do it?"</p><p>"Are you even listening? I'm saying I can't… Not that I would if I could. Now, please leave. I'm too tired to deal with this," Gold said, feeling the startings of a migraine already and in complete disbelief that she still wished to go through with such a thing with the risks in mind.</p><p>Without a word, Snow turned around and left the building, clearly not believing him and unsatisfied. He shuddered at what she expected of him. Even he was limited to what the natural universe would allow. Such acts simply could not be pulled off.</p><p>He knew of forces who could do it but he wasn't going to do anything to bring those types of beings into this town with his grandson. And even he wouldn't be able to sleep at night if he did anything to contribute to that type of fate to the mother of his grandson.</p><p>He was by no means a good man and he knew he was a monster but that was where he drew the line. Those creatures were creatures he wouldn't dare damn anyone to face but he had a terrifying feeling that in her ignorance, that Snow White might just be desperate enough to do it. Desperate and oblivious enough.</p><p>Keeping her uninformed about such forces were best for everyone involved.</p><p>As much as he enjoyed the idea of screwing Snow White over again, he wouldn't do it at the potential expense of his own life and safety. And there's know the way he would do that to Emma. It was just a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone for something so ridiculous.</p><p>"Alright, Henry, have a good day at school," Regina said to Henry as she guided the grinning boy at the door.</p><p>He'd been grinning like crazy since he woke Emma and Regina up… they had been snuggled up to each other and Regina was the big spoon. The only good thing was the blanket covered up her hands, otherwise, he wouldn't be grinning if he knew Regina was holding his other mother's breasts while she slept. But that hadn't stopped her from blushing furiously as she refused to meet the blonde's eyes for a few moments.</p><p>"You too, mom," Henry said, his voice oddly taunting as he winked at Regina in a way that teens winked at people when they were talking about something they weren't saying out loud but Regina had no sweet clue what the hell he was on about.</p><p>All morning long, whenever Henry talked about Emma, he had a sly grin on his face and a cheeky smirk.</p><p>He knew what was going on.</p><p>Yet, he was going on as though she and Emma were sneaking alcohol or something. Like they were doing something wrong and he was telling them he wasn't going to snitch.</p><p>"We're doing magic lessons today," Regina said quietly, unsure why she was defending herself to him. She didn't need his permission or approval for anything… And he knew they were doing magic lessons… Why was he acting so weird… unless.</p><p>"You got into Emma's dark pop again. I told you no pepsi or coke until you're older. Only light or caffeine free pop… You know how you get, Henry Daniel Mills!"</p><p>"Mom… Ma has pop here?"</p><p>Not when you get home she won't, Regina thought to herself, shrugging as she looked at her son, now more confused than ever by his behaviour.</p><p>"Have fun with your magic lessons. I'm happy for you."</p><p>Great, his Charming genes are showing.</p><p>Regina shook her head, it was far too early to deal with Henry and… whatever the hell he was hinting at. It wasn't his birthday. It was nowhere near Christmas. Oh, she loved her son but he could be confusing sometimes.</p><p>Was he in trouble? Did he break something?</p><p>Henry, if it's that computer I bought you last month, you will be grounded for the rest of your life. Or… no. It better not be…</p><p>"If it's my new pair of shoes, you're toast," Regina whispered to Henry's retreating form. "No wifi, no tv, no video games for a week."</p><p>Funny how punishing him sounds like punishing myself.</p><p>Regina went upstairs and into the guest room. Emma was brushing her wet blonde hair into a pony tail and staring at her reflection without really looking at herself. Regina could feel her magic swirling around anxiously.</p><p>"If you're ready, you can follow me out to the garden," Regina said, softly, resisting the temptation to remove all of Emma's magical discomfort but eventually, Emma had to learn to do it for herself… She was still shocked she was able to do it at all and she had to be prepared for her to lose the ability to help her because it was just uncommon of to be able to draw someone's magic so thoroughly when they weren't family. And even if the ability remained, it was still important for her to learn.</p><p>Emma was far too independent to want to accept help forever.</p><p>"Okay… What's going to happen?"</p><p>"Nothing difficult to begin. Come with me and we'll begin," Regina explained, as Emma stood up and followed her compliantly, too nervous to object too much and Regina did the one thing she could think to do. She took Emma's hand but didn't draw any magic, instead, she offered a comforting squeeze.</p><p>Out in the garden, Regina took a deep breath as she took in the smell of flowers, vegetables, plants and the fresh air; all things she had worked hard to grow, cultivate and nurture.</p><p>The fruit and vegetables in her garden were always plentiful, fresh and big and could grow all year round, especially since the curse broke. Emma glanced around nervously as the luscious green garden that she hadn't entered since she cut down Regina's tree which had since grown back and looked as lively as ever.</p><p>There wasn't a spot in the garden that wasn't green and full of life. There were butterflies flying around and flowers in various states of bloom.</p><p>Regina immediately felt her magic react to being in her garden and sense of tranquillity the area brought her.</p><p>"Follow me," Regina said, pulling Emma to a part of the garden she had never taken anyone before. It was a spot by the small pond where she liked to do her magic grounding. "Sit down."</p><p>When Regina sat on the ground, Emma's eyes went wide and she stared comically at the Mayor.</p><p>"Do you have a problem sitting on the ground, Miss Swan?"</p><p>"Hardly. I'm surprised you don't. You don't exactly come off as the 'one with nature, barefooting it in the wilderness type," Emma said with a laugh as she sat down next to Regina, smirking as the brunette raised a brow.</p><p>"I wouldn't put myself up there with any barefooters as your so eloquently stated but nature is a very big part of who I am and it is a very big part of magic," Regina said, almost glad Emma's comment had given her a place to start because honestly, she hadn't had a clue how she was going to begin her lesson, even as she led the woman out to it.</p><p>"It is?"</p><p>"Of course. Magic comes from nature. Its the convergence of the best and worst parts of nature with your soul; that is why it is so natural. Or… that's a major part of it. It's a very complex thing. It roots from nature, stems from your soul but it's your emotions that make it manifest on bloom," Regina explained, resting her hands over the grass and drawing in a little bit of magic from the green grass and pointing to Emma the results as the grass seemed to grow greener as she introduced some of her own built-up magic.</p><p>"You give your magic to the plants?"</p><p>"Yes and no. It's a give and take process, the process of cycling and recycling your magic. Refreshing it. It's like breathing. You give the plants your carbon monoxide and the plants make fresh air for you… Well, it's the same principle with magic. You give them your bad, emotionally tainted magic that is built up and ready to snap and fill you with fresh magic that soothes your soul and helps you feel better. Neutral magic."</p><p>"You… out with the bad and in with the new?"</p><p>Emma decided that it sounded simple enough and almost like meditation, which she was familiar with from one of her foster homes where the foster parents were big on spiritual wellness. She had found the process to be very relaxing.</p><p>"Exactly. Your tainted magic actually helps the plants to flourish and fills them with life and energy as they produce their more natural magic for you to take. It works out because that negative energy is good for them and the good energy which does nothing for them helps keep your magic balanced and from lashing out," Regina explained as she gently demonstrated with a clover. "And because plants and nature provide unlimited magic, you never have to worry about taking too much or providing too much for your own magic."</p><p>Emma tilted her head and looked at Regina whose face seemed positively illuminated in the shine and warmth of the garden.</p><p>"Today's lesson will be on cleansing your magic. That will be our focus for the next couple weeks because until you can cleanse your magic, you can never really safely use it because it will be unpredictable and tainted with emotions from your past and that can harm your soul and your heart. Leaving that type of energy in is what taints the soul."</p><p>"Is that why you…"</p><p>"Yes, my mother never taught me this. She said it made me weak and letting it build up made you stronger. Strength is nothing without the stability to go with it, Emma," Regina explained. "And that is why she made a miserable leader. And why I was such a horrible person. I'm not using it to excuse my actions because I acted on my own accord but there were moments that I acted on magic strain and aggravation that wouldn't have been there if I'd simply cleansed my magic."</p><p>"It'll help?"</p><p>"Yes. It helps with your emotions, eventually, your magic will lash out less and it'll help with your stress levels and therefore make you healthier."</p><p>"I want you to be honest, Regina. Would this have prevented… what happened?"</p><p>There were a few moments Regina wanted to lie to protect someone. She wanted to tell her what happened with the pirate would have happened regardless but she knew that was a lie. If Emma had had a firm grip and had cleansed her magic properly, she wouldn't have killed him.</p><p>She would have known how to control her magic and she wouldn't have been so strained and her magic energy wouldn't have been so angry. Her soul would have been less tight and everything would have led to a more rational reaction but your magic can only build that toxic energy for so long before it becomes uncontrollably fatal.</p><p>"Yes, Emma."</p><p>"Oh."</p><p>She respected Regina's honesty and the fact that she didn't hold the truth back but something about hearing that Hook's death could have been avoided had her magic not been completely out of control.</p><p>"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know and that was the problem. You didn't know. My mother might not have allowed for the natural cleansing but she still taught me how to purge the stuff that put me out of control. Instead, she let my soul be tainted with the darkness while letting me burn out the stuff that led to unpredictable lashing… I think she feared for her own safety if she didn't."</p><p>Emma listened quietly, nodding with a look of confused understanding on her face.</p><p>"Okay, what do I do?"</p><p>"We'll start out with the most basic exercise," Regina said with a thoughtful look. "How to detect magic from nonhuman things. This will help you find the strongest sources. They all have magic but some stronger than others. The strongest sources are usually the ones that provide nourishment. So fruits and vegetables."</p><p>"Okay, what do I do?"</p><p>"Close your eyes, take a deep breath and focus your magic on the area around us. Focus your senses until you feel a new warmth in your soul. Follow it. Walk towards it," Regina said, watching as Emma walked towards the tomato shrub nearby.</p><p>"It's… buzzing?"</p><p>That was the best way Emma could describe the feeling. It was as though it was calling her. She could feel her magic practically stretching out and she could feel the magic coming from all around her and smell it in the air.</p><p>Certain magic had more potent smells but it was all enticing and she could feel the purity of all of it in her veins. The beauty.</p><p>"Yes, Emma. Your magic is open right now and you're feeling drawn to cleanse. Put your hands out and reach towards the plant. Breath in deeply and out towards the plant. Feel your harmful and tense feelings flow towards the bush and take in the purity and warmth from the plant. Remember, you are helping it as much as its helping you."</p><p>Following Regina's instructions, she breathed out towards the plant, feeling her tension, anger and grief flowing towards the plant while feeling a new warmth filling her. It was as though she was detoxifying herself of bad energy and filling herself with good and positive energy.</p><p>She could feel her mind clearing somewhat and her tension leaving her shoulders. It was as though her veins were being filled with warmth and sunshine, taking all of the coldness she'd been unaware of from her system. It was such a wonderful feeling that left her feeling healed in a way she had never felt before.</p><p>When she finished, she looked at the bush and found the tomatoes were plumper and the leaves were greener. There were even a couple of new buds starting to show.</p><p>"Good job, Emma. How do you feel?"</p><p>"I feel good. Really good. Energised," Emma said, feeling better than she had in months. She felt as though everything that had been wrong in the past few weeks had lightened; it wasn't gone but it was easier for her to think, feel and breath. She didn't feel like she was going to snap or like her emotions were completely out of control.</p><p>It was refreshing and nice. Everything just felt better. Her mind seemed to be pushing her thoughts with ease, her muscles seemed less tense and the feeling of a constant headache edging on her senses was lightened.</p><p>She wanted to hug Regina and hold her. She didn't know why but she knew she did want to.</p><p>"Now, tell me what you're feeling, emotionally," Regina said, eyeing Emma carefully and Emma shrugged.</p><p>"I'm not sure, I feel… peaceful," Emma shrugged out.</p><p>"Okay, great, we're going over to the moms," Regina said, guiding Emma over to round flowers with lots of petals. "No, I explained that plants take in negative emotions, they also take in positive. I'm not going into full depth about emotional magic today but flowers tend to flourish when you cleanse with emotions that match their colour. Peace or playful energy is a purple emotion. Anger is red, embarrassed is yellow, sad is blue, pink is love, orange is tense and happiness is green and all plants flourish equally from it. Mind you, all plants will benefit from whatever emotion you provide them, this simply gives them extra."</p><p>"Emotions have colours?"</p><p>"Yes, those who see auras can see the colours but it all affects your magic in different ways. Certain emotions help in certain types of magic more than others," Regina explained guiding Emma to sit near the beautiful purple plants. "Focus your energy on the purple plants here, draw in the neutral magic and provide them with your peaceful magic."</p><p>Emma did as she was told and was once again filled with more warmth and peace. It was a wonderful release.</p><p>When she opened her eyes, all of the purple moms were brighter, fuller and standing straight as though she had provided them everything the needed to be healthy and strong. The leaves were brighter, there were more petals and the plants just seemed to look amazing.</p><p>"Good job, Emma! That's it."</p><p>Emma found her knees going slightly weak at the proud look in Regina's eyes.</p><p>She looked really proud of Emma and what she had accomplished. It made her feel warmth and pride in herself.</p><p>Together the women worked on the plants, bringing Emma more and more peace as they went on. It was such a wonderful feeling and she was growing familiar with the different vibes the individual plants provided.</p><p>Flowers gave a cleansing and pure feeling but fruits and vegetables, though pure, offered a fuller type of magic. It was as though they provided energy in addition to peaceful and pure magic. In fact, she found herself gaining a fuller type of magic from the edible plants.</p><p>She looked at the flowers in front of her and beamed as the gate to the garden flew open and Henry ran towards them. His face was split into a wide grin as he threw his school things onto a bench in the garden.</p><p>"Henry! Not the flowers!"</p><p>The boy changed paths right before he ran through a patch of colourful flowers.</p><p>"Ma, you look better. Are you feeling better?"</p><p>Emma shrugged as she looked down at her watch, trying to figure out why Henry was there. It was only… half three… Where had the day gone? Had she really been out here all day because once she began working with the flowers and plants, she had stopped noticing time altogether? When they moved to the front lawn for a brief moment, she saw various people from town walking by, Blue had been on her way to inform Regina of a permit she needed for her house had smiled warmly when she saw what they were doing.</p><p>"Regina, I'm so glad you are using the methods I taught you," Blue had said, causing the mayor to blush uncharacteristically. "Relax, I understand you have a reputation to keep up."</p><p>Regina had explained after Blue left, how she had turned to the fairy for ways to soothe her magic and the fairy had been all too happy to explain the purity and beauty of magic in a way she had never been shown before.</p><p>"Ma… Are you listening?"</p><p>"I'm sorry, Henry, I just… The day flew by," Emma said, staring at her watch and back up to Henry who was beaming at the healthy glow his mother now had, which was far better to see than the greenish hue she had been sporting before he had gone to school.</p><p>"Take it easy on her, Henry. I've been teaching her cleansing and it's normal to be off focus the first few times you cleanse. You purge so many negative and built up emotions that it takes your mind a while to settle afterwards. She should be used to it by the end of the week. Come and get a snack… I have neglected to feed your mother all day as I also lost track of time."</p><p>Emma's stomach let out a loud and monstrous growl that had even Henry laughing.</p><p>Emma turned back to the garden and admired everything they had done and it was simple to fill the garden with warmth and beauty. Almost all of the plants were brighter, fuller and healthier, which was saying something considering they had looked amazing before.</p><p>"You're magic was pent up for a while," Regina explained as she pulled Emma into the house. "You have much more to release than I do so the garden is going to look spectacular for months to come. It'll be at least a week before your pent up magic goes down to a point where we could consider teaching you any new spells?"</p><p>"Because I have too much?"</p><p>"Exactly. It's like when you prepare to open a door you think is going to be heavy and you push hard on a light door and break it. It's like that only, it's going to light a candle and setting the entire house on fire."</p><p>"So, I'd release too much magic for a simple spell?"</p><p>"Probably. We need to stabilize your emotions too. Otherwise, it is quite risky," Regina said carefully and found herself relieved when Emma nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Come on, mom… ma… It's supper time and Ma needs to eat."</p><p>Emma raised a brow at Regina who shrugged.</p><p>"He's a mother hen. You should have seen him on the very rare occasions that I'd get sick. You're better off just listening to him. He'll see to that you're fed one way or another."</p><p>"I'm counting to three!"</p><p>"Need I remind you that we are the adults, Henry?" Regina said.</p><p>"One…"</p><p>"Let's go, I don't feel like grounding him this weekend. I can't cut the wifi this weekend. Divas in Tents is posting new episodes on Netflix and I can't miss it," Regina murmured, dragging a chuckling Emma into the dining room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Actions Speak Louder</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Regina and Henry speak and Snow White continues to spiral.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Henry's bedroom had changed over the years. It had evolved from yellow duck wallpaper to a simple blue and brown room with pictures of his current role models and heroes on his wall.</p>
<p>There were even pictures of Henry with his friends from school as they grew bigger and their faces matured from innocent smiles to knowing smirks and taunting expressions.</p>
<p>The room was now filled with dim light as Henry sat in front of his laptop, watching a documentary about movie production. He was sitting in his after school clothes and a pair of big fluffy slippers that he only wore when he knew his friends weren't coming over.</p>
<p>"Henry, can I talk to you?"</p>
<p>"Sure, mom. Where's ma?"</p>
<p>"Asleep. The first time you cleanse is always quite draining. I figured now was a good time to talk," Regina said, sitting on Henry's bed. He closed his laptop and turned to face his mother with an apprehensive look on his face.</p>
<p>"How are you dealing with what happened?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. I'm worried about ma. She's so upset and I don't like it. It makes me mad but there's nothing I can do, is there? I know it's not her fault but usually, when something hurts someone, you can take it out on them but… she's hurt by what she did… And… I don't even know what I'm saying," Henry said, realising he sounded like he was mad at his mother.</p>
<p>He wasn't. He was angry because there was nothing he could do to fix this. There wasn't anyone he could talk to, yell at or punch for making her cry. It was a really terrible situation and he hated feeling like this.</p>
<p>He was angry because of how helpless he was. He didn't like the feeling of the people he loved suffering and knowing nothing he could do could make it stop.</p>
<p>He didn't even care about what that man had said about him. He just cared that he had insulted his mom and now his ma was suffering. It wasn't fair. The whole situation sucked so much.</p>
<p>He had punched his wall last night and he knew his mom knew because the hole was gone and his hand was healed when he woke up… And she wasn't mad and she hadn't punished him.</p>
<p>"I do. Everything will be okay eventually and you are helping. By showing her you love her and support her. That's what she needs right now, is for you to be there. I know you can't fix what happened but you can help her heal and move on from it," Regina explained with a pat on Henry's knee. "Just promise, next time you're mad, you'll tell one of us instead of hurting yourself by punching your wall."</p>
<p>"I feel bad though. I'm glad it happened… Not because someone died but because ma and you are under one roof and I can be with both of you at the same time… Like a family. Does that make me selfish?"</p>
<p>"No. You want what every kid wants… To be close to your parents."</p>
<p>She promised to herself that she would figure out a way to fix this co-parenting situation with Emma so he could feel closer to both of them like he wanted to be. And she was enjoying spending time with the blonde as well.</p>
<p>Regina watched Henry think about what he was processing and she was so glad she had a son who was willing to be open with his feelings. He told how he felt and he didn't let it build up.</p>
<p>Regina knew of boys who let their emotions build up until they lashed out in violence and with the sheer strength of Emma's magic, she found herself watching him for signs of magic and lashing out in that regard.</p>
<p>"Mom, do you think what happened will make Ma's heart darker?"</p>
<p>"A little bit. Not much. Maybe only a spot. If it had been intentional, it would have been bigger but I know she'll be fine," Regina explained to her son with a frown on her face.</p>
<p>"I wish she could be happy again."</p>
<p>"She's getting there. The cleansing will help her relax as the tension slowly lifts. In a week, she'll notice a difference. She noticed today but it will take a while before it's down to a manageable point so we can actually begin learning magic."</p>
<p>"I'm so glad she has you."</p>
<p>Henry looked up to Regina with proud and admiring eyes, the way he used to when he was younger and she did something 'amazing' like kiss his boo-boos away or give him advice on how to do things that were utterly fascinating to little Henry.</p>
<p>He used to ask questions about everything. Why this sky was blue, why cars moved, and how things worked. He was always a very curious child and when she'd answer, he looked at her like it was the most amazing thing he had ever heard in his life.</p>
<p>But his eyes slipped back to concerned and worried.</p>
<p>"I'll help her as best I can. This incident seems to have triggered nightmares," Regina explained, subconsciously listening out for signs of distress from the sleeping woman as though mentioning the word nightmare was going to cause Emma to start crying out.</p>
<p>"She had nightmares before. All the time. Every night. She always tries to hide it but I know she does. She cries in her sleep. She talks when she has nightmares and she tosses and turns," Henry explained, as Regina thought back to the past few nights.</p>
<p>"Did she ever scream?"</p>
<p>"No. She doesn't do that. She cries really loud sometimes but she doesn't scream."</p>
<p>That night, before Regina went to bed, she hid one of the baby monitors she had from the nights Neal stayed at the house when Snow and David got food poisoning and couldn't stay out of the bathroom long enough to take a sip of water. Heck, Snow couldn't stay out long enough to even check her son's diaper or argue with her husband about sending Neal to stay with the 'Evil Queen'.</p>
<p>She only agreed because Neal had been crying his lungs out in his crib for an hour and they couldn't get close enough to him to even soothe him with comforting words.</p>
<p>He stayed for four days. On the third day, the Charming couple went to the hospital and David convinced Snow to leave him there for the fourth day so they could get their energy back up. She agreed only because she could barely support her own weight to make it to the bathroom, let alone supporting the weight of a baby who couldn't crawl or walk.</p>
<p>Regina turned on the monitor in her room and turned up the volume.</p>
<p>It was a couple of hours later that she awoke to the sound of sobs and she could feel Emma's distressed magic travelling down the hall to her as though it was seeking her out. It was almost like Emma's magic had learnt to associate her with comfort and release.</p>
<p>It was as if her magic was looking for her and only her. It was like Emma's magic was pulling her to her. She felt almost like she was being lassoed towards Emma. So she stood up and allowed Emma's magic to pull her towards her room.</p>
<p>Waking the crying woman was easy. She stared around sleepily before her eyes focused on Regina's and a look of relief crossed her eyes that made the Mayor's stomach swim happily for a second.</p>
<p>"Come on, Emma. Let's go to the garden," Regina said, pulling Emma to her feet.</p>
<p>"Aren't you tired?"</p>
<p>"Yes. But this is more important. We'll get some sleep once you're done."</p>
<p>Emma followed Regina out to the garden and Regina guided her through the quickest and most effective cleansing activity she could.</p>
<p>And it clearly worked, because her eyes were glazed with relief and exhaustion and she soon found the blonde leaning against her for support, seconds away from passing out.</p>
<p>Regina proofed them up to the guest room and laid Emma down under the covers. Soft snores met her ears and once again, she found herself in awe at how fast Emma was able to fall asleep.</p>
<p>Henry was the same way. He could fall asleep in seconds when he was tired. It made her feel so warm and peaceful to see her sleeping so peacefully compared to the night before.</p>
<p>She stood up to leave the room and curl into her bed when something stopped her from leaving Emma's side.</p>
<p>Emma had grabbed onto her shirt and saw holding onto it with a fierce, vice-like grip. When she attempted to loosen her fingers, Emma made a whimper and muttered something in her sleep that sounded like 'please don't leave me'.</p>
<p>She sighed loudly and laid down next to Emma, who responded by wrapping her entire body around Regina, much like a baby koala bear. It made her appreciate the fact that she hadn't drunk much water because she clearly wasn't going anywhere, any time soon.</p>
<p>She felt Emma nuzzle into her neck and something seemed to take over her body because she found herself rubbing Emma's back until she herself fell into a deep sleep.</p>
<p>"Snow! I don't think you're aware of what you're asking. You are talking about risking your daughter's soul! The price for that is unthinkable… for both parties. Not just you but her. You don't want to mess with this!"</p>
<p>Blue-eyed Snow with worry in her heart.</p>
<p>The look in the woman's eye filled her with dread and fear.</p>
<p>"Are you going to help me or not Blue. My daughter cannot have magic. She's a good girl! I will do whatever I have to do to rid her of that evil!" Snow White exclaimed, looking Blue dead in the eyes.</p>
<p>It was a little after ten at night and she had been going back and forth with Snow White all night and it was getting on her last skinny nerve to hear the woman insult everything magic as though it was all evil.</p>
<p>Her entire existence was magic and so was Snow's.</p>
<p>"At the cost of your daughter's soul? Her life? Come on, Snow. Think about what you're saying," Blue pleaded and Snow looked up at her with a look so… so twisted that she flinched. It was worse than anything she had ever seen from even the Evil Queen… Only, there was a madness in her eyes that scared her.</p>
<p>"It's worth it to rid her of that magic."</p>
<p>"At cost of her life, Snow?"</p>
<p>"What life? Look what magic has done to Regina! It's only a matter of time before she… She needs to be rid of her magic and I don't care about the cost. I won't have a daughter with that kind of power. It's only a matter of time before she turns evil… Blue, can't you see I'm trying to save her?"</p>
<p>Blue gulped at her tone. This was wrong. This was very wrong. She knew she couldn't help her and she certainly wasn't going to point her in the right direction because that was worse than anything could do.</p>
<p>That went beyond evil. That was a level of evil she didn't want to think about and she certainly didn't want to imagine that Snow White was capable of but… the look in her eyes made her wonder. It made her scared.</p>
<p>It was best that Snow White remained in the dark about this.</p>
<p>"There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry, I'm going to need to ask you to leave."</p>
<p>"You're lying. I know you are," Snow White said, her face filled with anger. "I'm going to find out the truth."</p>
<p>Blue shook her head as she ushered Snow White out of her home.</p>
<p>This was bad. This was really bad. Even worse, she saw Snow walking towards a figure in the ally near Granny's and she couldn't help but feel like there was something was off about that. It left her feeling very unsettled. The whole exchange.</p>
<p>As soon as morning came, she'd text Regina. They needed to talk. This was spiralling out of control and Emma had to be warned on what Snow was trying to do. There was just something about the look in her eyes that made Blue very nervous.</p>
<p>Emma woke up the following morning, feeling better than she had in days.</p>
<p>She had a really warm and soft pillow in her embrace and it just felt so good to hold.</p>
<p>She nuzzled into it, feeling soft puffs of air against her ear… Wait. Pillow didn't do that. Pillows didn't breath. And the certainly didn't move.</p>
<p>Emma opened her eyes to find Regina laying in her arms, one of her hands resting on Emma's back and the other one, on one side of her face. She looked relaxed and peaceful as she held Emma just as close as Emma was holding onto her. It was so peaceful and it made Emma want to lay there forever in the other woman's arms.</p>
<p>It didn't take long before the Mayor woke up and eyed Emma was a raised brow.</p>
<p>"Sleep well?"</p>
<p>"I did. I'm surprised you're here," Emma replied, subconsciously, nuzzling closer, still too tired to worry about normal and abnormal social barriers.</p>
<p>"Yes, well, I figured since I'm being held hostage, I might as well go with it," Regina whispered with affectionate taunting in her voice as she yawned and continued to hold Emma close.</p>
<p>'"I'm sorry. I don't usually do that," Emma sighed, thinking about how no one was ever close enough for her to try snuggling.</p>
<p>"Relax, Miss Swan. I'm not angry. If I had an issue, I would have found a way to wake you up," Regina said, seeing the hurt in Emma's eyes at the idea that Regina was upset to have spent the night cuddling her.</p>
<p>Besides, cuddling was good for emotions like the ones Emma was currently experiencing. And she liked holding the other woman. It was nice.</p>
<p>"Mom! Mom! Where are you? Oh, look! There you are," Henry said, walking into the room where Emma was still nuzzled into Regina's neck.</p>
<p>It was as though he had poured glitter straight into his eyes that's how much they were sparkling.</p>
<p>"Sleep well."</p>
<p>"Lose that tone, Mister," Regina said, rolling her eyes, muttering to herself about her son. "He gets these genes from you, Miss Swan."</p>
<p>"I did good," Emma muttered sarcastically as she unwrapped her arms and legs from Regina, causing an uncomfortable cold to hit Regina. She considered pulling Emma back around her but that would be weird.</p>
<p>"Mom, your phones going off. It's Blue. She says to call her," Henry explained, causing Regina to sit up in the bed.</p>
<p>"What did I say about reading someone's personal messages?"</p>
<p>"Not to but it was going off for an hour," Henry explained quietly.</p>
<p>"An hour. Okay, you go get showered, I'll take care of it," Regina said pulling herself out of bed and grumbling grumpily as she took the phone from her son's hand.</p>
<p>She called Blue and the call was answered in minutes.</p>
<p>"It's Snow."</p>
<p>"Hello to you too."</p>
<p>"Sorry, dear, I'm tired. Snow stopped by last night and she's… I think she's going to try something," Blue muttered, yawning at least twice while she spoke.</p>
<p>"Try something about what?"</p>
<p>"Emma's magic. She wasn't to get rid of it and she doesn't care about the consequences," Blue explained in a rush.</p>
<p>"There's no way to do it."</p>
<p>"But there is. She doesn't know about it but I know Gold does," Blue explained in a rush, sounding anxious and tired as she spoke. "She looks… desperate."</p>
<p>"Fine, I'll go talk to our shifty 'friend' and find out what he told her. But I need to go. My son's acting weird and I think he's drinking coffee," Regina explained the only explanation she had for Henry's unusual behaviour.</p>
<p>She sent Henry off to school, sometime later and she had told Emma about what Blue had told her and what the consequences to what Snow was trying to do were. Emma looked devastated. Utterly and completely devastated.</p>
<p>"She doesn't care what happens to me… As long as I don't have magic?" Emma whispered, her voice breaking and for once, Regina couldn't think of a single thing to comfort her. She couldn't assure it wasn't true because it was.</p>
<p>"Come, let's go cleanse, okay?" Regina said, wrapping her arms around Emma who buried her face into Regina's shoulder. Her magic was lashing but not as violent as it had in the past couple days.</p>
<p>It was a testimony of how strong her magic was if this was the strength of the latent magic she had after a day of cleansing.</p>
<p>When Emma fell asleep, she poofed her up to the guest room and left a note with her about where she was going. She needed to find out what Gold had told Snow and if she had even been there.</p>
<p>When she poofed into Gold's shop, he dropped an arm full of DVDs and used his modern and quite extensive vocabulary of curse words to express how he felt about her popping in without warning.</p>
<p>"Impressive vocabulary. But I can assure you, there is no canine blood in me, so perhaps find some more appropriate words," Regina said before walking up to the counter. "I need to talk to you. About Snow. She wants to get rid of Emma's powers and we think she might come to you."</p>
<p>"Might? She was here already. I told her no. I might have messed with dark magic in the past but that right there is a level of darkness I refuse to touch. Especially considering the danger it could put my grandson in. And I'm not willing to pay the price. Especially because Snow White can't accept she has a daughter with magic?"</p>
<p>Gold exclaimed eyeing Regina in a way that made it clear he was under no conditions to argue.</p>
<p>"I knew there was a way to do it and I knew the consequences, my mother told me but she never told me how it was done. But after hearing the consequences, I refused to consider it again. Blue said she explained the consequences to Snow and she didn't care. She thinks it would be better that way," Regina explained sadly.</p>
<p>Gold shuddered and looked at Regina.</p>
<p>"That is troublesome to hear but alas, she doesn't have the knowledge to do it, we can rest assured about that much," Gold said with a look of almost relief on his face. "I wouldn't entrust her with this knowledge."</p>
<p>"Yes, well, thank you for letting me know."</p>
<p>"Peace offering. I want peace and quiet. I'm tired of dark magic and even if I weren't, that type of magic is simply unforgivable and not to be touched… Ever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have DVDs to resort."</p>
<p>He pointed to the pile of DVDs he had dropped when Regina had poofed in.</p>
<p>"Yes, I need to go, too. Emma should be waking soon," Regina said with a smile that graced her face without her knowledge.</p>
<p>"Yes, good luck. I sensed her magic the other night from my room when she was on the wharf… I felt ripples for hours, dearie. You're going to have your hands full with that one," Gold said before Regina could poof away.</p>
<p>She got back to the house and found Emma sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a hot cup of coffee. But her face was pale and she looked a little shaken.</p>
<p>"Are you okay, Emma?"</p>
<p>"Hmm? Oh, fine. Bad dream. I decided to wake up," Emma said, unable to meet Regina's eyes as she stared into her cup, shadows of tears became visable when she looked down and Regina could see a bit of red in her eyes.</p>
<p>Her heart buckled at the realisation that Emma had had a nightmare on her own. But from what Henry said, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Regina sat quietly beside her and summoned a cup of coffee for herself.</p>
<p>"Today, we are going to the lake. We will be learning water grounding," Regina said, not wanting to point out that she knew Emma had had a nightmare because she knew that Emma was proud and didn't want to be viewed as weak.</p>
<p>They would work on that later but for now, she just wanted to get Emma through the worst of her magical instability before she could begin working on everything else.</p>
<p>"Water cleansing?"</p>
<p>"Yes. It's like cleansing with plant only, its different. When you push out your magic, you give energy to the water and the life within it. You provide energy and healing to the fish, the plants that feed the fish and everything in it. Much like cleansing with the plants which is used to help the growth of plants, cleansing with the water helps to keep the fish and water life flourishing. Magic can be used to keep up with the needs and demands for food and agriculture," Regina revealed.</p>
<p>"How did you start learning all of this?"</p>
<p>"I wanted to change. For Henry. For you because you believed in me so unconditionally. It made me want to be a better person. Not a saint but better. Purifying my magic like this, made it easier for me to think clearer and less emotionally. Instead of acting because something made me mad, I was able to think clearly and logically."</p>
<p>Emma smiled for a moment, clearly doing her best not to smile as widely was she wanted but she was clearly very touched by Regina's words.</p>
<p>"So, I went to Blue and she helped me learn to balance my magic. I've never seen her so pleased. And now, I am going to help you," Regina said as she sipped her coffee. "While I'm at it, I'm also going to work on your diet because if you keep eating the way you do."</p>
<p>"My magic will go out of control," Emma guessed.</p>
<p>"No, I'm going to have to find a way to wrestle insulin into you because I know about your fear of needles. And I don't feel like explaining to Henry why I need to wrestle your stubborn ass to the ground multiple times a day because you gave yourself diabetes by eating like an unsupervised five year old with a sweet tooth."</p>
<p>Regina took a moment to start gather ingredients for breakfast. It was important that Emma start a healthy diet for her own mental health and physical well being because it contributed to healthy magic.</p>
<p>She wanted to show the younger woman how to eat a balanced diet in a way that she most likely wasn't shown as a kid when she was bounced back and forth from one house to another. And if Emma was going to stay with her, she was going to see that she was eating properly.</p>
<p>"Ouch," Emma snorted out loud as Regina shrugged back, with a smirk on her face that held no coldness at all.</p>
<p>"Well, it's true."</p>
<p>"My diet isn't that bad."</p>
<p>"Last Monday I watched you eat waffles for breakfast…"</p>
<p>"You're cooking waffles now," Emma said, pointing to the batter Regina was now preparing to pour into the waffle maker.</p>
<p>"Yes, but there won't be any fudge, whipped cream, chocolate or chocolate spread… All of which I saw you eat on a single serving of waffles. I could feel my teeth rotting in my mouth from across the room," Regina said, as she began to pour the batter. "But you can chop the berries to make the berry sauce."</p>
<p>While Regina made the waffles, she instructed Emma in how to prepare the berry sauce by heating the berries with just a little bit of sugar.</p>
<p>They ate together and when they were done, they went over to the lake. Regina would have ordinarily started with the ocean but she didn't want to cause the flashbacks that would bring up considering what happened the last time Emma was near the ocean.</p>
<p>Cleansing with the lake, Emma quickly discovered, was different. It was more about releasing than drawing. There was a little bit of magic to draw out but it wasn't as strong as it was when you used a plant.</p>
<p>"Focus on drawing warmth and pushing out the excess magic… That's it, Emma. Focus on…"</p>
<p>"Regina!"</p>
<p>"What Rumple! Can't you see we're in the middle of something?"</p>
<p>"I can but this is more important," Rumplestiltskin said with a look in his slightly glazed over eyes… He looked like he had a concussion.</p>
<p>"Snow White attacked me. Knocked me out and took a bunch of books and artefacts," Rumplestiltskin explained, doing his best to sound professional but he was clearly having trouble focusing. "She and Robin."</p>
<p>"He's been hanging around her quite a bit since… It's been a couple months…"</p>
<p>Regina frowned deeply. She could remember her mentioning it, right around the time they broke up. She decided it was for the best because of everything she was focusing on and she found herself unable to hold as much interest in Robin as she did when the relationship first began.</p>
<p>"What books and artifacts?"</p>
<p>"The kind to accomplish what she wants."</p>
<p>"That's… what does she have to do. It's no big deal, we won't let her near Emma," Regina said with fear churning in her stomach.</p>
<p>"I don't think you understand. This creature, the creature capable of 'taking someone's magic' consumes the entire soul. It's a demon and once it's unleashed, it won't stop until… It's not written in the book about the catastrophic effects, only that it will consume the magic and soul. You didn't see her. She's looking bad. Desperate. Desperate enough to do it," Gold said with a shudder. "She needs to be stopped. I know I have messed with a lot in the name of power but power means nothing if there isn't any life left to rule over."</p>
<p>Emma looked over to Regina whose mind was clearly working at a mile a minute.</p>
<p>"Where do you think she went?"</p>
<p>"No clue. But we need to find her and quick."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. It's Karaoke Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>David takes Regina out for Bro time and of course, the evil queen can totally hold her alcohol... or... can she?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Surprise! New Chapter</p>
<p>Chapter Rating: T</p>
<p>Includes mention of alcohol use. </p>
<p>So, this chapter is a nice way to defuse some of the tension.</p>
<p>WARNING: Contains excessive cuteness, Fluff, Humour and all-round a fun chapter. </p>
<p>NOTE: In the first or second chapter I mentioned Christmas, I’m going to include that as a one-shot so I can make it lengthier and focus on some of the holiday traditions that Henry and Regina formed and Emma’s introduction of her own traditions and talk about Emma’s previous Christmases, there was too much to squeeze into a chapter so it will be published separately.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Just a nice chapter for comedic relief which is a wonderful tactic to bring forth amusement right before the climax of the story. Things are going to accelerate from this point of the story on. </p>
<p>I wanted to add a bit of Charming Bromance, some Neal cuteness and some awkward and flustered Emma. </p>
<p>I’ve made some plot changes and the villain has been shifted but still not a happy ending for Snow, I’m sorry. </p>
<p>It had been a week since Snow White disappeared. A week since she assaulted Rumplestiltskin, stole his books and artefacts and left to go god knows where to do something unthinkable. </p>
<p>Something so terrible that even Rumpelstiltskin refused to do. </p>
<p>David had been searching day in and day out for his wife and that left Neal staying with Regina and Emma throughout the day, sitting and playing with his toys while Regina taught Emma cleansing and purging magic. </p>
<p>Purging magic involved drawing nothing and simply releasing into the environment. It was a last resort for excess magic. Emma preferred to purge to the plants but she was taught how to draw from and purge to plants, water, grass, air, rain and hope to draw in from her hands, feet and by breathing. </p>
<p>Today’s magic lesson began the second Henry had set Neal into his playpen and dashed out the door to school. </p>
<p>“Today, I will be teaching you your first spell,” Regina said with a smug grin on her face as Emma began squirming excitedly. It was clear she was very excited but was trying not to react with too much enthusiasm so she didn’t appear childish but Regina was starting to find her excitement to be kind of addictive and charming. </p>
<p>“Yes, get Neal a sippy cup and I’ll get everything ready here,” Regina said with a smirk on her face as she pointed to the kitchen where a sippy cup sat, filled with juice made from the fruit in Regina’s garden and infused with Regina and Emma’s magic. </p>
<p>Neal happily grabbed the cup and when Emma kissed his head, he mimicked by placing a very wet and sloppy kiss on his sister’s forehead with enough slobber that it almost ran down her face. </p>
<p>Neal giggled loudly as Emma reacted to the kiss and looked over at Regina as though expecting a kiss from her too. Regina stared at the toddler stunned before she walked over and kissed his forehead too. In return, she walked away with a forehead of slobber too but couldn’t complain because the proud look in his eyes was enough to make her heart soar. </p>
<p>“Alright, Miss Swan, enough playing. Let’s begin,” Regina said, guiding Emma over to the table where a large, white feather sat waiting for her.</p>
<p>“So, you’re magic grounding, cleansing and purging have been working well and the next step to controlling magic is to use it without fear because if you fear magic, it will react defensively. Learning to use it makes it flow through you with comfort instead of discomfort.”</p>
<p>Emma stared at the feather, her stomach jerking excitedly. She was finally ready to learn some real magic. </p>
<p>Since she had begun cleansing, her emotions had evened out, the nightmares were a less common occurrence and she was eating better. She slept better, her thoughts were more rational and she smiled more. It left her feeling really good and she loved her energy levels, the glow to her skin and the shine in her hair. </p>
<p>“What do to do?”</p>
<p>“First, flick your hand over the feather, like this,” Regina said, demonstrating the motion. Emma happily did so, doing her best to keep from grinning like a small child but she was just so excited. </p>
<p>“Okay.”</p>
<p>“Now say Wingardium Leviosa.”</p>
<p>“Wingardi… hey! That’s not a real thing, is it?”</p>
<p>“No, but you still almost said it,” Regina laughed out in a way that sounded so beautiful and light from the usually so stern woman. And…</p>
<p>“That was a Harry Potter reference.”</p>
<p>“Well…”</p>
<p>“I knew you were paying attention! I knew it!” Emma squealed with a wide grin as she danced pointed to Regina, thinking about the past few nights when Emma and Henry <br/>watched Harry Potter and Regina sat back and read but there were moments, Emma swore she was watching the movie over her book. </p>
<p>“Neal,” Emma said in a light, teasing tone. “Gia is a Potterhead.”</p>
<p>“Gia p’thead?”</p>
<p>“Oh, thank you, Emma! It sounds like he’s saying I’m a pothead. And my name is Regina. I don’t see why you, David and Henry must encourage his use of the name ‘Gia’,” Regina said, not at all angry but trying to sound stern. </p>
<p>“Gia p’thead!” </p>
<p>“You can explain that one to the moms at the park, dear,” Regina said with a laugh as Neal clapped his hands and shouted the words again as he clapped proudly and held his chest out.</p>
<p>***** ***** *****<br/>“Gia, you need a night off,” David said as he arrived at Regina’s house that night. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater and he looked ready to go out for a night instead of taking his son home to put to bed. </p>
<p>“Oh and are you about to offer? Because I have nothing better to do with my time than to take a night off. How about a year! I’ll just go to a hotel because if I leave these clowns behind, my house will be gone! I have a son, David!”</p>
<p>“His other mother agreed to watch him.”</p>
<p>Regina turned to Emma with a look of pure accusation as she realised this whole thing was planned out.</p>
<p>“You have a son.”</p>
<p>“Again, Emma and your son agreed to help.”</p>
<p>“Emma’s magic!”</p>
<p>“You said so yourself she’s come along and extraordinarily well for a short period of time,” David said, raising a brow. “And as your bro…”</p>
<p>“You’re not my bro.”</p>
<p>“ … It’s my duty to help you mellow out. We’re going for drinks.”</p>
<p>“Excuse me while I fetch the drinking chum you think you’re speaking to because I will not lower myself to drinking dear in a dank bar while trying not to decapitate every perverted jerk who stares at my chest or hits on me.” </p>
<p>“Oh, come now, Gia. If you do, I’ll trim your hedges for the next month.”</p>
<p>“Six months,” Regina said in a challenging tone. She detested trimming the hedges. It was just a task she did not enjoy and did everything she could to avoid it. She’d much rather roll in the dirt that trim the hedges… And he knew it. </p>
<p>“Two?”</p>
<p>Two? Ha! He wants her to go drinking, it was six months, or not at all. </p>
<p>“Six.”</p>
<p>“Three?”</p>
<p>“Six.”</p>
<p>“Fine, six.”</p>
<p>“Oh, alright. Let me get dressed. But I need to ask, why me? Emma seems more the type to want to kick back a few Brews.”</p>
<p>“Brewskies and I just found the idea of encouraging my daughter to drink and drinking with her is an uncomfortable thought. You look like you need a night out, bro.”</p>
<p>“Call me Bro again and I’ll remind you exactly why they call me the evil queen.” </p>
<p>“Whatever you say, Bro.” </p>
<p>Regina walked out of the room, muttering under her breath as she went to put on clothes. She went into her en-suite with a clean outfit, she pulled off her shirt studied her figure in the mirror. She was about to take off her bra and…</p>
<p>“Gia! Gia! Num num!”</p>
<p>Regina swore she gave herself whiplash she turned around so fast. There was Neal in the bathtub pointing to her breasts, clearly thinking about food. Emma was holding a face clothe to Neal’s face and staring at Regina with a steadily reddening face before she finally tore her eyes away. </p>
<p>“Ma, I got Neal’s… MOM! Why is your shirt… you know… not on your body,” Henry cried, blocking his eyes in shock as he started to back out of the room. </p>
<p>“Oh, I don’t know. But I’ll make sure I knock the next time I enter my bathroom in my room… Emma, if you keep staring, I’m going to assume you’re staring for the same reason as your brother,” Regina said to Emma whose eyes had fallen back onto Regina’s chest. </p>
<p>Unlike Neal, she had the courtesy to blush and look away. Neal, however, continued to point and ask for ‘num nums’. </p>
<p>“S-sorry,” Emma muttered, turning her attention back to Neal. </p>
<p>“Why are you bathing him here?”</p>
<p>“He likes the bubbles,” Emma answered with a shrug. </p>
<p>“Bub bub!”</p>
<p>Neal splashed a few times, successfully soaking Emma and laughing at the look on her face. </p>
<p>“I’m going to change in my room… For the night out with my ‘bro’.”</p>
<p>Emma laughed loudly at Regina’s use of the word bro but it was Neal laughing along that really lightened her heart. </p>
<p>Maybe the night wouldn’t be so bad.</p>
<p>***** ***** *****<br/>Regina followed David into the bar and found herself regretting all of the choices in life that lead up to this moment because everyone turned to look at her. </p>
<p>“This place looks fun!” David said happily patting Regina on the back. “Can you think of anywhere you’d rather be?”</p>
<p>“At home, with my son and your daughter,” Regina supplied, eyeing the bar with a bit of restrained annoyance. But she had promised Emma she would come and try to have a good time, so she would. </p>
<p>“Come on, Bro, let’s get some beers,” David said, walking towards the bar. Regina followed behind quietly, looking around at the people who were conversing, playing the slot machines or playing pool or darts. </p>
<p>“What do we do?”</p>
<p>“Have a beer, Bro and then you decide,” David said with a smile. </p>
<p>Regina merely rolled her eyes but she had learnt on the walk over that David was just as stubborn as his daughter and would not stop calling her bro. </p>
<p>As the night went on, Regina found herself relaxing and the atmosphere around her became relaxed and fun. She had beat three people at pool and won herself and David a round of shots. </p>
<p>She found herself wondering why she shouldn’t play darts… Until her dart got lodged in the ceiling. </p>
<p>Weird, she usually had good aim. Obviously, this wasn’t her fault. Cheap darts, it was horrible. Especially when the other one hit the floor but she stopped when one lodged itself into Sleepy’s butt… He didn’t notice and Regina wasn’t getting close enough to his butt to retrieve it. </p>
<p>“David! These darts have been tainted. I need new ones,” Regina informed him, handing him a shot. </p>
<p>“Maybe you’re drunk.” David taunted as he sat down. </p>
<p>“I am a queen. I don’t do drunk, bro.”</p>
<p>His face split into a wide grin, as though she had just complimented him. It took her a second to realise just why he was grinning but she didn’t feel like correcting what she said. </p>
<p>“You called me bro.” </p>
<p>Now she felt like correcting it. </p>
<p>“I said no. Not bro.”</p>
<p>“You said, bro.”</p>
<p>Never had anyone but this man and his daughter felt it acceptable to use such a taunting tone with her. It was as though they had forgotten that her name struck fear into the hearts of many. People used to tremble at the sound of her name or the sight of her. She used to be in control. </p>
<p>Now, this man was calling her bro… And worse… She wasn’t hating it anymore. When had she gone soft? Soon she was going to be fist-bumping the man and letting Henry eats all the ice cream he wanted. At this rate, she’d be eating it with him. </p>
<p>“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, it’s karaoke time. Any volunteers.”</p>
<p>Regina glanced up at David and if she had have been anywhere near sober, she would have ignored the impulse to follow through with one of her former desires. But she wasn’t and she didn’t care what anyone thought. </p>
<p>“Did you know I sing, bro?” Regina said. “Come, sing. We’re going to sing.”</p>
<p>She pulled her self-proclaimed bro towards the stage, noticing the hesitance on his face. He was clearly sober than she was… Maybe she should rectify that. After Karake time. </p>
<p>“Really?”</p>
<p>“Bros do what bros want to do and I want to sing and I need a male voice for this song. You dragged me out here, we’re going to sing,” Regina said, firmly. </p>
<p>“Okay, what are we going to sing?”</p>
<p>“This one,” Regina said, enjoying the irony of her choice.</p>
<p>“Ways to be Wicked? Isn’t that from the Descendants?”</p>
<p>“Ironic, no? It’s like a crazy alternate universe of our lives? Just imagine it?”</p>
<p>“Ironic? Terrifying! Or does Mr Gold ruling over our kingdom sound appealing to you?” David snorted. </p>
<p>“That would make for an interesting story. Enough talking, ‘Bro’, it’s karaoke time,” Regina said, strutting onto the stage with all the confidence of a queen but the grace on… well, a drunk queen. </p>
<p>The song was very funny and Regina sang well… considering she was drunk. </p>
<p>Regina took a couple more shots and sang a couple more songs. She and David made a wonderful duo, regardless of everyone else not clapping. They were jealous. </p>
<p>They sat down and Regina opened a text from Emma, showing a picture of Henry and Neal curled up in Henry’s bed. </p>
<p>Mke sue e don’t fall frm the bd. R</p>
<p>A few seconds later, her phone buzzed. </p>
<p>I will. I see you’re having fun.</p>
<p>Sht pu. R</p>
<p>Look who forgot how to spell now! Madam Mayor… Or should I call you Mayor Bro?</p>
<p>Regina decided to ignore that one and she looked at David.</p>
<p>“She get’s her humour from you.”</p>
<p>A few drinks later, David decided it was time to walk Regina home. Especially since she tried to poof them onto the stage and poof herself into a garbage can and himself into the kitchen. </p>
<p>David helped Regina to the door. She insisted she could do it and yet, he was supporting all of her weight because the ground kept ‘moving on her’. She demanded he do something about it but then yelled when he tried to lift her. </p>
<p>Emma opened the door and was barely able to bite back her laughter. </p>
<p>“There’s my Emma! Pretty, Pretty, Emma! Emma! Did you know you’re pretty?” Regina threw herself into Emma’s direction, forcing the blonde to wrap her arms around the Mayor’s waste. </p>
<p>“I can honestly say, no one has called me pretty so much in one sentence,” Emma said shooting a look to David who shrugged. </p>
<p>“They should, Emmy Pie, you’re so pretty, pretty, pretty. Pretty girl! Did you know you’re a girl? Pretty girl! I like you, pretty girl Emma!”</p>
<p>Emma shot David a look and manage to stop herself from laughing as Regina began running her hands roughly up and down her face.</p>
<p>“There are videos on Facebook of her singing karaoke.”</p>
<p>“I was amazing, pretty Emma! Ooh, your face is so squishy. We need to arrange to hold public karaoke. It should be a law and as mayor, it should be my job to grace everyone with my beautiful voice to make everyone happy. Don’t you agree, bro?”</p>
<p>“I do bro.”</p>
<p>“M’name is R… Re… R… Gia!” </p>
<p>“Okay, Gia,” David said with a laugh. “I’m going to assume you have this under control? I need to go and sober up. Do you want me to take Neal with me?”</p>
<p>“No, dad. I think you need rest… though somehow you’re doing better off than she is,” Emma said, almost accusatory. </p>
<p>“She tried to match me.”</p>
<p>“I can hold my drinks!”</p>
<p>“You poofed yourself into a garbage can… She was tagged in three photos this evening in the can and there are four videos of her karaoke time,” David added. </p>
<p>“I want Karaoke machines in time square tomorrow… I mean town square. I need to sing for my people! They need to hear me sing! It will be my contribution to the world!”</p>
<p>“I’ll take care of that. First thing, bro,” David said, with a taunting tone on his face. </p>
<p>“You will sing with me! They loved us!” Regina announced proudly. “You were an acceptable singer. Unlike Pretty, pretty Emma who can’t sing good. She sings fast and weird songs by the M&amp;M man! But there aren’t M&amp;Ms, pretty Emma!”</p>
<p>“Goodnight, Gia. Emma,” David said kissing the top of Emma’s head and dashing out to go home. </p>
<p>“I’m going to show you my amazing singing tomorrow Emma!” Regina said as Emma helped her up the stairs towards her room. “Did you know you’re beautiful? You should be my girlfriend and we can hold hands, sing music for our people and I can make you nice fancy picnics by the lake with Henry and Nealy can come too.”</p>
<p>Emma blushed so deeply at Regina’s words. If the usually regal woman wasn’t so drunk, she might have considered taking them into account but those were words she would only accept sober. </p>
<p>So she said nothing. </p>
<p>“I need to sing with you, Emma. I know you like my breasts and I like you and we could be so perfect together. We have a kid together. I need… I need… toilet. I need a toilet, now!” </p>
<p>Emma grabbed Regina and moved so quick that it was probably beyond human. She got to the toilet just in time for Regina to bring up all the liquor she consumed. </p>
<p>After making a mental note to get after her father for not feeding Regina while she was drinking, Emma got Regina out of her clothes, into pyjamas and tucked into bed. She went down to Henry’s room and curled up on the other side of Neal once again so he would be safe when he woke up. </p>
<p>***** ***** ******</p>
<p>Regina’s cell phone was like a hammer directly to her head.</p>
<p>She opened her eyes and was immediately greeted by sunlight which felt like raw acid being poured directly into her eyes. Her head hurt and her stomach felt like it was about to explode. </p>
<p>She swore that she would never drink again. </p>
<p>Why the hell had she agreed to go drinking? Oh yeah, to get a break. A break she hadn’t asked for and certainly didn’t need but a break. </p>
<p>Her phone started ringing again and this time she answered with a ground out hello. </p>
<p>“Hello to you too, sis.”</p>
<p>“Zelena! What the hell do you want?” </p>
<p>“What do I want! I want to know if you had lost your bloody mind! I honestly never thought you would do something so stupid, Regina. Are you trying to kill us all? What do you plan to do with the world when everyone and everything is dead, you idiot! I always knew I was the smarter one… I swear, lord only knows why mother kept you over me!” Zelena cursed, her words echoing through Regina’s head like a sword. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry, did you call me just to curse at me because if so, I can put the phone down and you can curse at my pillow because I won’t listen to it,” Regina ground out, feeling her lack of food trying to resurface. </p>
<p>“Says the woman trying to raise a fucking demon!”</p>
<p>“Excuse me! I can assure you, I am doing nothing of the sort. Snow White is and how do you know about that?”</p>
<p>“Snow White? Come on, at least try to blame someone believable. I’m more like to believe her newborn son was doing it than her.”</p>
<p>“Believe what you want… Again I ask, how do you know about that?”</p>
<p>“I have sources. They reported demonic activity near you.”</p>
<p>“And you immediately thought of me, how… thoughtful. It’s not me doing in but we have it under control,” Regina said, knowing the last part was a lie. “Now, why don’t you go and bug someone else, the sound of your voice is making me want to vomit.”</p>
<p>Actually, that would be the five beers and four shots of tequila. </p>
<p>Regina got out of bed and went down to Henry’s room to check on him and the site in front of her made her forget about her churning stomach and splitting headache. </p>
<p>Henry, Neal and Emma were all curled up in Henry’s bed. Neal was in the middle, holding onto Henry’s shirt and Emma’s hair. They all looked so peaceful and comfortable. </p>
<p>Without thinking, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. The resulting click, however, caused Emma to stir and open her eyes. </p>
<p>“Mrning, Gia.”</p>
<p>“Excuse me.”</p>
<p>“Last night, you were insistent that you were named Gia,” Emma taunted. “You look terrible, are you okay?”</p>
<p>Regina raised a brow.</p>
<p>“Terrible… Well, I feel like shit, so at least I look better than I feel,” Regina whispered. </p>
<p>“Come, I’ll make you a tea perfect for hangovers.”</p>
<p>Emma pulled Regina into the kitchen and after the tea was ready, she served it and an Advil to the regal woman who was now holding her head in her hands as she glared at the table as though it had insulted her. </p>
<p>“Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Its what girlfriends are for,” Emma said, causing Regina to sputter and spit her tea everywhere. </p>
<p>“Excuse me, miss Swan?”</p>
<p>“Oh, last night, you said I should be your girlfriend. Your reasoning was ‘you like my breasts.’ I figured, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t take care of you… and your breasts of course because apparently that’s the only reason I’m dating you,” Emma said, secretly enjoying calling Regina her girlfriend. </p>
<p>In fact, it was making her feel really good and she found herself wishing it had been more than liquor talking when Regina asked her out. </p>
<p>“Yes, well, they are spectacular. You couldn’t stop staring,” Regina said, grabbing them with a vicious smirk on her face, no doubt trying to make Emma blush to get back at her for making her have such an ungrateful and undignified moment. It worked. Emma’s cheeks were the colour of tomatoes. </p>
<p>***** ***** *****<br/>Somewhere around five in the evening, David was sitting in his living room, eating supper and hoping Regina wasn’t still expecting Karaoke machines in town square… or that she wasn’t honestly going to sing for everyone every day because the woman had a seriously awful singing voice. </p>
<p>He made his way into the bedroom to catch another hour of sleep before work and more searching for his wife. </p>
<p>However, when he entered his bedroom,  he found himself looking into the cold, black eyes of his wife. </p>
<p>Her entire demeanour had changed. She looked different but it wasn’t clear how. Her eyes were filled with raw hatred and calculated coldness. Her very essence sent chills of panic and fear down his spine. </p>
<p>She had a very viscous and predatory look on her face as she licked her teeth as though the site of her husband was making her hungry and he knew it wasn’t in a good way. </p>
<p>The looked, for every sense of the word, like a monster.</p>
<p>Her face was pale, her cheeks were sucked in and her hair was messy and caked with mud. Even her clothes were torn. </p>
<p>She opened her mouth and the coldest smile he had ever seen in his life crossed her cold and calculating face.</p>
<p>“Hello, darling.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Cliff hanger, I’m sorry. Only TWO chapters left before the epilogue!! I’m so excited. This is the first story I’ve completed in a while!!! I’m so proud!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The person Emma killed will be revealed in the next chapter and was chosen on a vote on Facebook and won by a landslide... I was shocked by how many wanted him dead.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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